


we can try (to pick those pieces up)

by jesmacallans



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Babies, Children, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Engagement, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Living Together, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22516894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesmacallans/pseuds/jesmacallans
Summary: Sara and Ava are going through a rough patch. One day, it's enough for Ava and she leaves. Sara tries everything to fix it.orthe one where Sara makes a big mistake and all she wants is for Ava to come home.
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 70
Kudos: 371





	1. I only miss you every day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! 
> 
> So, I hope you all like this fic! Just a warning, it's gonna be angsty. But I promise there will be a good ending. This fic is inspired by the song: "Pieces" by Olive James. The flashbacks are written in italics. Let me know what you thought so far in the comments below!

Sara woke up, opening her eyes but immediately shutting them again as the blinding light was too much. The splitting headache hit her hard as she groaned in pain. Her lips were dry, clearly dehydrated. Her body was stiff and cold.

It was then that she realized she’d been sleeping on the wooden floor of the living room. “Shit.” She cursed as she slowly stood up and looked around. There were quite a few empty bottles everywhere; on the table, on the floor and even on the couch. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she saw the stains of alcohol on the grey rug.

“Ava’s not going to like this.” Sara sighed. She couldn’t really remember what happened the night before, or what caused her to drink so much. There was this nagging feeling of something being not quite right, though. She didn’t know what it was, and thinking about it made her head hurt even more.

The more Sara looked around, the more she started noticing how much of a mess it was. There were pillows strewn across the room, broken pieces of glass on the floor. As if there had been a physical fight. She shrugged it off, thinking she might’ve done it in her drunken state.

-

After cleaning most of the apartment and taking some medicine for the headache, she plopped down on the couch and grabbed her phone. Sara sighed as she noticed it was dead. She quickly plugged it in and turned it on when it started charging.

Sara was surprised when she saw the time. It was already 3 P.M. Ava usually never had to go into work on Saturdays, and if she did, she would’ve let her know. The fact that there were no calls or texts from her made Sara slightly worried. “Maybe it was an emergency.” She grumbled in herself.

She sighed once again and stood up to clean the remaining mess. She picked up the last of the empty bottles. This one was half broken, with some shards of glass laying around it. Sara gasped and her eyes immediately welled up with tears as her memories from the night before slowly started coming back.

-

“ _Sara! Fuck, did you drink again?”_

_All of a sudden two cold fingers were pressing against the side of her neck. “Aves, that’s c-cold.” The smaller blonde weakly said, moving her head away. “You had me worried.” Ava calmly said. Sara opened her eyes and was met with the worrying gaze of her girlfriend._

_“I’m fine!” She said, moving to stand up. She started slipping, of course, she was still drunk after all. Two strong arms prevented her of falling on the hard floor of their apartment. “Yes, clearly, you are doing fine.” The tall blonde replied, looking around the room before training her eyes back on her, not leaving her out of her sight._

_She grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch, sitting her gently down on the couch before sitting down next to her. “You should drink some water, babe.” Ava softly said. She quickly got back up, wanting to get her girlfriend to sober up, but a hand stopped her. “I don’t want water.” Sara replied, her face completely emotionless as she stared at Ava. “But you have to sober up, you can barely stand on your feet, Sara.” She said, getting some water anyway when she realized Sara wasn’t going to answer._

_The smaller woman took some sips as the other one just sadly stared at her. “What are you looking at?” Sara snapped. “I- I’m sorry. I was just so worried about you. I had an emergency at work, remember? And you were already kind of tipsy when I left, and I told you not to drink any more than that. So, I texted you, and called you but you didn’t pick up.” Ava stammered. Sara shrugged her shoulders. “I can do whatever I want. I’m my own person, Ava.” She grumbled. “I know that, but you’ve been drinking almost every night, to the point of getting unconscious. This isn’t healthy, babe.” The taller one sighed, putting her hand on the side of her girlfriend’s face. She flinched when the latter moved to sit further down the couch, resisting her touch._

_“I know these past few months have been hard for you, Sara, I get it. But you drinking bottles of alcohol every night, it scares me. Everytime I have to leave for work, everytime I have to leave you by yourself, I can’t help but think about what could happen. What if you really drink too much one day and knock yourself out? Fall into a coma? Die? I can’t lose you, I need you.” Ava softly sobbed, quickly wiping some tears from her eyes._

_Sara felt her mood change slightly. She never wanted her significant other to feel like that. She couldn’t help but feel like a burden to her, which made her feel even worse about herself and the situation she had gotten herself in. Sara shrugged it off anyway and took one sip of the water. “I’m doing fine, Ava. No need to worry about me.” That was all she said._

_There was an awkward silence between the two for a few minutes. Ava couldn’t help but look at the other woman with a sullen expression. Sara put the glass of water down and moved off the couch quickly, reaching for the last full bottle of alcohol that was standing on the table. The taller blonde looked on in shock as she downed half of it._

_“Stop it, Sara, you’ve had enough now.”_

_“No, you can’t decide for me and you definitely can’t stop me from drinking.”_

_Ava took a step forward, basically glaring at her girlfriend. “Give me the bottle.” She said with a stern voice. She reached her arm out towards Sara, who immediately took a step backwards. “No! Leave me alone! I can take care of myself.” Sara exclaimed angrily. She took a big sip from the bottle, looking at the taller woman as if she was challenging her. Ava bit her lip and shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. “Please, baby. Put that bottle down. For me. Do it for me.” She softly said, her voice cracking from the emotion._

_“I know substance abuse runs in your family, Sara. First Laurel, and then your dad. But they accepted it and got better, remember? You can do it too, I believe in you. Just hand me the bottle, okay? That’s the first step of recovery.”_

_At this point, Ava knew she had made a mistake by mentioning Sara’s dad. The smaller blonde started breathing heavily, whilst tears were visible in her eyes. Her jaw was clenched and her body became tense. Sara was livid. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned-” Ava started to say, but got rudely interrupted by the bottle being thrown at her, luckily it missed by a few inches. It broke in a thousand pieces on the floor, drops of alcohol splashing everywhere._

_“How dare you!” Sara screamed angrily. “You know that’s a sore subject for me, Ava, and yet you mention it anyway. You know I’ve had a rough time! My father died a few weeks ago. I’m still grieving. And this is my way to cope so please just leave me be!” She continued. Ava shook her head. “I’m not going to stand here and watch you ruin yourself. I can’t let you do that. I love you!” She yelled._

_“Well, if you don’t like it, there’s the door.” The smaller blonde pointed at the direction of where the front door was, and then shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn’t care less. “Are you serious?” The other one said with a small voice. “I’ve been there for you for years, Sara, I can’t abandon the person I want to spend the rest of my life with just like that!” She yelled, crossing her arms. Sara looked at her briefly, her face completely emotionless once again._

_“Go. I don’t care anymore. You clearly can’t handle the way I am right now. So, leave. And don’t come back.”_

_The tears began running down Ava’s face non-stop. “You’re drunk, you don’t know what you’re saying.” She replied. Then, Sara walked past her, going towards the couch. She downed the glass of water that was still half full at that point. “Just leave. I don’t want you here. And I don’t love you anymore. Get out.” The smaller woman’s voice trembled from anger._

_Ava was fully crying, not being able to speak. Not that arguing with her girlfriend was going to help anything. So, she turned around, grabbed a few things and put it in a random bag. She looked one more time at Sara, who was now laying on the floor. A tear ran down her face. And then the door slammed shut. She was gone._

_-_

“Ava.” Sara gasped. She didn’t even focus on the glass on the floor. She ran upstairs as quickly as she could and opened their bedroom closet. Her heart broke in pieces as she realized her girlfriend really left. There was no trace of her anywhere. Her clothes were gone. She ran to the bathroom and wasn’t surprised to see only one toothbrush there. No trace of the coconut shampoo and conditioner on the side of the bath. She was gone. Ava had left her.

“What did I do?” She cried. Sara ran back to the bedroom and reached for the pillow. It still smelled like her girlfriend. All she could do in that moment was cry her eyes out as she hugged the pillow close. “Why did I let you leave?” She heavily sobbed.

-

Sara was standing in front of her sister’s house. She pressed the doorbell a few times impatiently. “Please be home, please be home.” She muttered. The woman rummaged through the bag she was holding. She had quickly packed some of her stuff in there. Sara couldn’t handle being in the apartment without Ava, so she decided to go to Laurel instead. She would understand.

The door opened and Sara just broke down in tears. “Laurel.” She sobbed. “Sara, what’s wrong?” Her sister asked, hugging her tightly. They stood there for a while, Sara just crying whilst Laurel stroked her back and whispered calming things in her ear. The front door of the house was wide open, but neither seemed to care.

After almost ten minutes, they let each other go. Laurel looked at her little sister worriedly. “Please, come in. It’s getting cold.” She said, grabbing Sara’s arm and pulling her into her home.

-

Sara told her everything what happened. She started sobbing halfway through the story and Laurel just held her. “She left me, Laurel. My soulmate. I thought we’d have a future together. And now, she’s gone.” She cried heavily. Her sister kept quiet. “Why did I say those things to her? I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I was so drunk. I fucked up.” Sara said, wiping her tears away. Her eyes focused on the ring on her finger, the ring Ava proposed to her with almost a year ago. She bit her lip; trying to hold the fresh wave of tears in but failing.

“Maybe you should give her a little bit of space. She must be feeling awful also, after what happened. Let’s not draw any conclusions, okay? I’m sure she’ll be back eventually. You two love each other so much, there’s no way it’ll end here.” Laurel explained as she looked at her. “Ugh, okay. Why are you always right?” Sara groaned. “I don’t know. Her big sister replied with a small smile on her face. “You can stay here for the time being, okay. I’ll help you.” She continued. Sara almost started sobbing again but instead held onto Laurel’s hand. “Really? Are you sure Tommy won’t mind?” She asked. “He’ll have to deal with it.” Laurel joked. “No, I’m sure he’ll understand. Besides, Thea has stayed here plenty of times when she was going through some pretty rough times too.” She shrugged.

“You’re the best,” Sara hugged her sister. “I love you.” She quietly said. Laurel hugged her even tighter.

“I love you too. You’ll get through this, Sara.”


	2. a broken heart is all that's left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara tries to contact Ava, Tommy interferes and then Sara gets reminded of her past.

**day 2**

Sara breathed deeply in and out, before pressing the call button under Ava’s name. She waited and waited, hoping she’d pick up. But no, that didn’t happen. The blonde wiped a tear away when she heard her fiancée’s voice.

“Hi, it’s Ava Sharpe. I’m sorry, I can’t take your call right now. I might be busy-”

Another voice came through. Her own. “Yes, she’s very busy, with me!” Sara tried not to cry. Giggles could be heard in the background, making her heart basically break in a thousand pieces once again. Ava had set this as her voicemail all those years ago, when they’d just started dating. They were so happy and in love. Sara always smiled when she listened to it, but now it made her feel worse than she already was feeling.

“Please leave your message after the tone!” 

She let out a shuddering breath but didn’t hang up just yet. “Hey, Aves- Ava. It’s me, Sara. As you probably already know.” Sara said, quickly taking a sip of the beer that she’d grabbed from Laurel’s fridge earlier. “I, look, I’m sorry, Ava. I didn’t mean what I said. I was just a little bit drunk and I wasn’t feeling great. Please, call me back at least. Or come home. I miss you so much and it’s only been like a day.” She now sobbed. “Please come home to me, baby.” And with that, she hung up and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she cried and cried until there were no more tears left.

-

Two hours later, Sara was chilling on the couch, mindlessly some TV whilst drinking from her tenth beer. Her eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying she had been doing. She looked and felt absolutely miserable.

She put down the beer with a grunt when she realized it was empty. “Damn it.” She cursed. Sara drank to forget all the happy memories she had with Ava; it hadn’t worked. So, the only solution was to drink more. The woman stood up slowly, trying not to stumble and fall. She succeeded and walked to the kitchen, only to discover there was no alcohol left. She shut the fridge door with a slam and punched the wall next to it. Sara didn’t even feel the pain anymore. She just felt numb. 

Then, all of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming in the kitchen, startling her. It was Laurel’s husband, Tommy. He looked at her with so much pity. Sara couldn’t take it. 

“Sara, are you okay?”

Her jaw tightened and she clenched her fists. “Yes, I’m fine. Don’t I look fine? Also, where’s the rest of the alcohol? There has to be more, right?” She asked. Tommy shook his head. “I’m guessing you drank all the beer, huh?” He replied. The man opened the fridge and got an answer to his own question. “Yeah, that’s all we had, Sara. And even if we had more, you wouldn’t have gotten it. You’ve had enough.” He said, taking a step closer to her and resting a hand on her shoulder. Sara glared at him and angrily stomped away. 

“Wait, Sara, where are you going? Come back!” Tommy yelled. The blonde paid no attention and headed for the front door. She opened it and was surprised to see her sister standing there, her eyes widened and her hand raised as if she was just about to open the door too.

“Sara? Where are you going?” Laurel asked with a soft voice. “None of your business.” She snapped, she grabbed her motorcycle, got on it and sped away, ignoring the desperate cries of her sister and her brother-in-law. 

-

It was a miracle she had arrived at her destination without injuring herself somehow. She put her motorcycle in the garage and walked to the front door of her apartment – the apartment she shares with Ava. Well, shared. 

She breathed deeply in and out before entering. 

Nothing had changed since the last time she’d been here. Everything was still the way she’d left it. Which means Ava probably hadn’t been here either. Sara bit her lip as she went upstairs to the bedroom. 

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw a picture frame lying face down on the floor. “Huh, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t there a few days ago.” She mumbled in confusion. She picked it up and all of a sudden there was this lump in her throat. Sara held her breath as she looked at the photo. It got taken after they had just met each other for the first time ever.

-

_A pretty woman sitting to her right caught her eye. She seemed tipsy; but yet she still looked beautiful as ever. Flushed cheeks, her long blonde hair brushed to one side and those blue-grey eyes. Exactly Sara’s type._

_She knocked back her fifth drink of the night and walked over with confidence. She put her glass down and motioned to the bartender, sitting closer to the woman now._

_“You seem upset. Are you okay?”_

_This made the blonde look at her in confusion. As if she didn’t expect someone to talk to her. “No. Not that a stranger like you cares anyway.” She snapped. Sara smiled at this._

_“Try me.” Was all she said, lifting an eyebrow as if it was a challenge. The pretty woman sighed, her shoulder sagged. “My girlfriend of one year just broke up with me. Over text.” She said. Sara whistled at that. “Ouch.” She replied, and quickly ordered two whiskeys. It seemed like they both needed a strong drink at this moment._

_“So yeah, that’s it. What’s your story?” The taller blonde asked after taking a big sip from her drink. “Well, pretty much the same thing. Only in my case, I was the one that broke up with her.” She shrugged. “Huh. What happened?” The mystery woman asked._

_“Well, Nyssa and I, we weren’t good for each other anymore. At first, it was fantastic and fun and everything was going great. But after two years, I guess I just fell out of love. She deserves someone better than me anyway. But yeah, so I broke up with her and that’s it I guess.”_

_A comfortable silence hung in the air between them. Until it got broken by the taller blonde._

_“That still sucks though. Honestly, relationships suck. Everything sucks.” She said with sadness clear in her voice. “We’ll be okay eventually.” Sara replied, putting a hand on the woman’s shoulder in comfort._

_“You promise?” The mystery woman held out her pinky. Sara grinned and put her finger around hers. “Pinky promise.” She answered. She grabbed her phone and opened her camera._

_“Let’s seal this with a selfie, so we can look back at this in a few years when we’ve become good friends and laugh about it.”_

_-_

She hugged the broken photo frame close to herself as she started sobbing at the memory. Sara had never cried so much in just two days, but she couldn’t help it. She still wasn’t over the fact that the love of her life left her. 

After a few minutes, she laid down on the kingsized bed and quickly drifted off in a deep sleep, with Ava still on her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments below! I appreciate all of you.
> 
> \- Miranda (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	3. I'll fall for you all over again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara visits her dad's grave, and she gets reminded of a certain memory.

**day 15**

Sara was laying in her bed. It had been two weeks since she’d last seen anyone. Her sister tried to visit her, multiple times, but Sara refused to let her in. She hated to do it, but she was feeling too sad to care. It was as if someone had stolen her soul. She didn’t care about anything anymore. After all, what did she have to lose? Her dad was gone, and her fiancée had left her. It was clear that she wasn’t meant for love. Not for being loved or loving someone back. Everyone leaves in the end.

The blonde walked to the bathroom and made herself look somewhat presentable for the day. Even though her skin was bleak, her lips dry, her hair greasy and also those horrible looking bags under her eyes. Sara shrugged it off as it not being important and went downstairs to make herself some food.

After she had done that, she decided to go outside for a walk, to get some fresh air. She ended up at the graveyard, sitting next to her dad’s gravestone in silence.

“Hey, daddy. I hope you’re taking care of yourself up there. I miss you so much. It has been a few months since you passed away. But the pain never goes away, does it?” She sighed. Sara kept quiet for a few minutes. “Dad, Ava has left me. I was being so stupid. I told her I didn’t love her anymore, but that’s not true at all. I love her so much and I don’t know what to do without her. I did the one thing I thought I'd never do. I hurt her." She was fully crying now, but she didn’t care. The tears rolled down her cheeks and she just sat there and wept. “I lost the two people I love and I just don’t know how to move on.” Sara whispered.

It was almost an hour later, it was now slowly getting dark, the sun slowly disappearing from view. Sara was still there. She stood up and tearfully smiled at the gravestone. “Remember that time when you first met Ava at Christmas a few years ago?” She asked silently. A big, genuine smile appeared on her face when she thought about it.

-

_Sara knocked on the door of her dad’s house, her new friend standing nervously behind her. “Don’t worry, Ava. He’ll love you.” She smirked. The taller blonde nervously smiled back at her. The door opened and Quentin appeared with a big smile on his face._

_“Sara! How are you doing? I missed you.” Her dad exclaimed, hugging his daughter tightly. “Woah, it’s been like a week since I last spoke to you.” Sara laughed, but still hugging her dad back._

_After a few seconds they let each other go. Quentin’s eyes focused on the newcomer standing behind her. “Sara, who’s this?” He asked with a kind smile on his face. Sara winked, grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her forward. “Dad, this is Ava. Ava, this is my dad, Quentin Lance.” She replied. Ava held her hand out and Sara’s dad shook it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lance.” The tall blonde softly said. Quentin grinned and pulled his daughter’s friend into a hug. “Don’t be so formal, Ava. Any friend of my daughter is welcome here.”_

_This made Ava visibly relax. She smiled and nodded. “Come in, you can meet my sister and her boyfriend!” Sara grabbed her hand again and pulled her into the living room. Laurel and Tommy were sitting on one of the couches, clearly caught in their own little world, as they didn’t even acknowledge the two women entering the room._

_“Hey, we’re here too!” Sara exclaimed but with a smile. She was always happy to see her sister again. They hugged, Tommy too. Ava was standing awkwardly beside her again. “Laurel, this is my friend, Ava.” She gestured towards the tall blonde. “Ava, this is my sister Laurel.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Ava. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Laurel said with a smirk. Sara elbowed her sister in the side, making her squeal. “What? It’s true.” Laurel said, winking at Ava, who in turn blushed. “What?” Ava basically squealed._

_“Guys, let’s not embarass our guest!” Quentin said, standing by the table with his arms crossed. "Who’s going to help me set the table?” He asked, looking at his daughters and Tommy. Ava moved to stand up, but a hand stopped her. “No, Aves. You’re our guest. Just sit here and relax.” Sara smiled, pressing a kiss to her friend’s cheek before going to the kitchen._

_-_

_They were all busy eating Christmas dinner, making small talk here and there._

_Quentin looked at his youngest daughter and her friend, noticing the little looks between the two when they thought the other wasn’t looking. It made him happy, seeing Sara happy. “So, Ava, where are you from?” He asked as he took a bite of his food. “Well, I was born in Vancouver, got adopted at a few months old, and then lived in Fresno with my parents until I turned 20.” She explained, taking a sip of her red wine after. Quentin nodded. “And what are your parents like?” He asked, genuinely interested. He got startled when his daughter stared at him. “Dad!” Sara exclaimed._

_“It’s okay, Sara.” Ava said. She put her hand over Sara’s and then looked back at Quentin. “After I came out to them, they became cold towards me. It was clear that they didn’t like it. So, I got out of there as soon as I had the money and then I moved to Star City.” She shrugged. Sara pouted and squeezed her friend’s hand. Quentin sadly smiled at the two of them, before talking again._

_“Well, you’ll always be welcome here, Ava.”_

_-_

_Sara was sitting outside on the front porch, taking some fresh air. It was cold, but she liked just sitting there and watching the stars. She heard the sound of the door gently slam shut behind her, footsteps and then someone sat down next to her. Her dad. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder._

_“Ava is a nice girl, Sara.” Was all he said._

_Sara looked up in confusion. “What?” She asked. Her dad grinned at her. “Don’t think I didn’t see the way you two looked at each other during dinner. You like her, right?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. A light blush appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She denied it. Quentin laughed. “You know I work at the police, right? I detect. It’s what I do.”_

_It was silent for a few seconds._

_Sara sighed. “Okay, fine. You’re right. I like her a lot. Stop grinning like that, dad. It’s not going to work out anyway.” She somberly said, her shoulders hunched as she looked to the ground. Her dad put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me, Sara. Anyone who has eyes can see that Ava likes you too. Everytime you weren’t looking, she was looking at you with so much love in her eyes. Also the fact that she keeps blushing whenever you’re around her. The girl’s head over heels in love with you, honey.”_

_The blonde woman looked at her dad with hopeful eyes. “You really think so?” She asked in a small voice. He nodded at embraced his daughter in a hug. “She’s good for you. You should go for it.” He said. Quentin started grinning after he let her go. “Don’t tell Laurel and Tommy, but you two would definitely be the cutest couple.” He laughed. Sara chuckled, hitting her father in the arm playfully. “Shut up!” She exclaimed._

_After a few seconds she sighed. “I think I’ll tell her soon. About my feelings. Not now, but soon.” She whispered. Her dad nodded. “That’s fine, honey. You have all the time in the world.” Quentin said. They kept quiet as they watched the stars together for a while, until it started to rain._

_-_

_It was now almost 10 in the evening. Tommy and Laurel had left. Sara and Ava had gone upstairs to watch a movie. He decided it’d be a good idea to bring some drinks and snacks up for them._

_He walked up the stairs, put down the tray and knocked gently on the door to his daughter’s room. “Sara? I have some drinks and food.” He softly said. No answer. He could hear the TV still running though. Quentin shook his head and opened the door. He smiled at the sight._

_The two women were laying on the bed in each other’s arms, clearly asleep. Sara rested her head onto Ava’s chest, and Ava was holding onto her with an arm around her waist. Quentin put the tray down, grabbed a blanket and put it over them. He shut off the TV and walked back to the door._

_“See, I told you it'd work out.” He quietly whispered with a big smile on his face, walking into the hallway and shutting the door._

-

Sara felt a few tears running down her face. She wiped them away and turned to look one more time at her father’s gravestone.

“Thank you for everything. If you hadn’t told me what you did that day, Ava and I probably would've still been just friends.” She chuckled sadly. Sara sighed. “I’ll visit you again as soon as I can. I miss you. Goodbye, dad.”

And then, she left and walked back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.
> 
> P.S.: I promise there will be more of Ava soon. 
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	4. for the first time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara finally reaches her breaking point.

**day 19**

Sara groaned as she heard her phone ringing. Though, she could feel a little bit of hope when she realized that it could be Ava calling. She rushed out of bed, tripping over some clothes that was spread out on the floor. Sara landed on the floor with a thud. “Fuck,” She cursed. She stood up, forgetting about the pain, quickly stomping down the stairs in search of her phone.

It was hidden under one of the cushions on the couch. Thankfully, it was still ringing when she found it. 

Her heart broke in pieces when she saw who the caller was. It wasn’t Ava. It was the chief of Star City Police. Sara accepted the call with a sigh. “With detective Lance, what can I help you with?” She asked, sitting down on the couch. 

“Hello, Miss Lance. I’m calling because you haven’t shown up to your job this past week. I understand that the passing of your father was very hard to deal with, and we gave you some time off. But, since you haven’t turned up, and have been ignoring calls and texts from your captain, we decided to let you go. I’m deeply sorry. You were a great detective.”

Sara’s mouth fell open in shock. “What? No! You can’t do that. I need this job. I don’t have anything else left.” She angrily exclaimed. “There’s nothing that we can do.” The man said. She was about to yell profanities at him, but luckily for him, she didn't get to. There was a click and the phone call had been ended. 

She sat there, not moving, for at least fifteen minutes. Her eyes big and her mouth still hanging open in disbelief. Sara started feeling the pain again, but now she felt even worse. She exhaled deeply as the tears started to come up. She’d just lost literally everything.

Sara had been part of the police force for almost a decade. She got into it because of her dad. He showed her how to shoot accurately and basically taught her everything she’d have to know. Sara studied at the police academy as well, wanting to be like her father. Because her dad had always been her hero.

"I need a drink.” She groaned. Everything was hurting at this point. Sara just wanted, no, needed it to stop. The blonde didn’t know what to do with herself, she kept pacing the floor. She knew she shouldn’t drink, that it’s not healthy for her. But she just couldn’t take it anymore, she couldn’t resist. Sara went over to the pantry, grabbed a few bottles and started drinking.

It had been about 10 minutes, and Sara had downed basically everything that was left. It was no surprise to her that she’d already started feeling dizzy and faint. Her breath started picking up, in panic. She kept trying to find the couch so she could lay down safely.

But Sara was feeling too bad for that. Her whole world was spinning, and as soon as she started to walk, it got worse. She stumbled and then lost her balance, falling down on the wooden floor of the apartment. 

She moaned out in pain. “Help.” She tried to scream, but all that came out was a whisper. Then everything went black.

-

A few seconds passed, but it felt like an eternity. Sara was still laying unconscious on the floor. She couldn’t see a thing, but she could hear the turning of the keys, the door opening and then slamming shut. All she wanted was to stand up, walk over to whoever had entered the home and get some help. But she couldn’t move. Sara’s heart started beating even faster when a voice called out to her.

“Sara, are you home?”

That voice, she would recognize it from anywhere. The soft and gentle voice that could always calm her down, keep her grounded, no matter what. Of course, it was Ava. Her fiancée had come back for her, and here Sara was. Laying helpless on the floor. She heard footsteps approaching, and then a gasp. 

“Sara? Shit, what did you do? Wake up for me, sweetheart.” Hands gripped her arms and rolled her over so she was laying on her back. She felt cold fingers tapping against her cheek. It was clear that Ava was trying everything to make her wake up. Her body was being shaken. But none of it worked.

“Wake up, please, baby. Please, wake up for me. It can’t end like this.” 

Sara’s heart broke in thousands of pieces when she heard the sobbing, and felt Ava’s tears falling down onto her own face. She wanted to reach out so badly, hold her fiancée’s hand in comfort. It killed her to not being able to do so. Her heart started beating slower again. Too slow.

“Stay with me, Sara. You just hold on, okay? You’re going to be okay, I promise.”

Then, those hands were gone, and it seemed as if she was talking to someone else. Hopefully she was getting help. The smaller blonde tried to make sense of what the woman was saying, even though her sense of hearing was slowly disappearing. She let out a breath of air, and then everything stopped.

-

_Sara was standing in front of Ava’s house. She had tried texting her, and calling her. But she got left on read and her calls were declined. “Come on, Ava, just let me in.” She mumbled. The blonde was very confused and hurt by the way Ava had been acting recently. She’d been distant a lot, she stopped paying attention to her as if she had a lot on her mind. Ava didn’t smile that much anymore. It made Sara feel so hopeless, to see her friend being so unhappy._

_So now, Sara was stood there, in the rain, thinking of what to do next. An idea popped up in her head. She picked up a marble and threw it as hard as she could against the glass window. Sara did it a few times. She felt some relief as there was some visible movement in the house._

_The curtains moved, and a sleepy Ava appeared. Right, it was close to 1 A.M. in the morning after all. Sara looked up and pouted at her friend. She sighed as she saw the curtains roughly close again. She couldn’t help but feel dejected. She put her hands in her pockets, having accepted that Ava probably went back to sleep. So, she took a few steps backwards and then turned around, wanting to walk away and forget it never happened._

_Then, the door squeaked, which made Sara turn around in surprise. There she was, standing outside in a dressing robe, her hair tousled from sleeping. “What are you doing here?” The taller blonde asked with a harsh tone. She crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow at her, and then shivered. “Look, I just wanted to ask if you were okay.” Sara replied. “And you couldn’t text me that or something? You came all the way over here to ask me that?” Ava sighed. Sara’s jaw clenched. “Well, I did text you. Multiple times, actually. It’s not my fault that you didn’t reply to my texts.” She shrugged. The taller blonde rolled her eyes and moved closer to the door. Sara quickly walked over to her, grabbing her arm and looking at her intensely. Blue met blue._

_“What do you want, Sara?” Ava said, anger rising whilst trying to yank her arm out of her friend’s grip. “You’re obviously not okay, Aves. You have been so down recently. I just want to know what’s going on! I’m your friend, you’re supposed to tell me these things.” Sara bit back. The tall one scoffed at this. “You really are blind, aren’t you?”_

_“What’s that supposed to mean?” The other blonde asked softly, this time out of confusion. “Damn it, Sara! You’ve been so busy hanging out and dating other people. You weren’t here for me.” She replied. Sara just rose an eyebrow at her, urging her to go on._ _“How can you not see that I’m absolutely head over heels with you, Lance? Watching you being all happy with someone else, and not with me. You don’t know how many times I wished for it to happen. I wanted to be the person that could always make you smile. The person you could always confide in. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t take this pain anymore.” Ava ranted, letting out a light groan at the end._

_“I probably shouldn’t have told you any of this. I know, me having feelings for you might be a huge deal or whatever, but I don’t want to lose you. Not as a friend. Because you’re an amazing friend and I’m so lucky that I can even call you my best friend, Sara, I- Wait, why are you laughing at me? This isn’t funny.” The tall one pouted and looked down nervously at the ground._

_“I’m not laughing at you, dummy. I’m just laughing because I have liked you for a while now.” Sara grinned. Ava’s mouth dropped in surprise. “Seriously?” She questioned. Sara nodded. “I haven’t been dating ever since I realized I had feelings for you. I mean, not really, anyway. I just tried to forget about it at first but it didn’t work,” Sara paused, reaching to put a strand of her friend’s hair behind her ear. “You mean everything to me, Ava Sharpe. And I really, really, like you.” She softly continued, her hand resting on Ava’s cheek, her eyes flitting to her rosy lips. “Really?” Ava whispered, her eyes now looking at Sara’s mouth too. “Yeah. And I just need to kiss you. Can I?” The small blonde asked quietly, her eyes not leaving Ava’s face. The latter nodded desperately in silence._

_The rain was pouring down. But neither of them seemed to mind. They slowly moved until their lips crashed together. It was almost like a scene from those cheesy movies the two always watched on their weekly movie nights. There weren’t any fireworks, but there was a click. It felt so right, as if they just belonged together. The smaller blonde put her arms around her neck, as Ava's encircled Sara’s waist._

_The kiss became less soft, mouths meeting frantically and hands grasping. It felt good to the both of them, amazing even, to finally open up and letting their feelings show for once. No more hiding. They kept kissing. It was almost as if they were one, breathing in each other. Nothing else seemed to matter to the two anymore. Nothing else existed but Sara and Ava. Captured in their own little perfect world._

_Ava’s hand slid up Sara’s back as it became more and more intense. The smaller blonde put her hands on her cheeks, kissing her chastely before pulling away. The biggest smile appeared on her face, her many dimples showing and her icy blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight. Ava decided, right then and there that that was her favorite thing. She’d never seen Sara so happy before, and the fact that she was the cause of that made her heart swell with fondness. She leaned her forehead against hers._

_Sara closed her eyes and took a second to breathe, her mind still reeling from what just happened. She opened her eyes again and pressed a small kiss on Ava’s cheek. The latter blushed. And then, something snapped as they both started laughing._

_“We should’ve done this way earlier.” Ava grinned. Sara nodded in return. “Yeah, we really should have. Gosh, Ava. I like you so much.” She sighed. This made the taller one giggle softly. “Come on, we should go inside. If we keep standing outside for much longer, we’ll get sick.” Ava stated. The small blonde rose an eyebrow and Ava suddenly looked innocent._

_“Not like that, you dumbass! No funny business. It’s late and I don’t want you to go back to your house all by yourself. So, you’re gonna stay here, sleep next to me in my bed. That’s all.” Ava chuckled. “In your bed, huh?” Sara’s eyes glimmed with mischief. “As if we’ve never slept in one bed before, Sara! Besides, it’s cold, and I need cuddles.” The tall one grabbed her hand, looking at her questioningly._

_Sara accepted it and let herself be pulled inside. What Ava said next, made her stop in her tracks and her heart squeeze in her chest._

_“Hey, Sara. I really, really like you too. You know, if you hadn't gotten that yet.”_

\- 

Sara gasped for air, finally, she wasn’t unconscious anymore. That typical smell, the blinding lights and the steady beeping coming from her right. It was okay. She was going to be okay, eventually. She felt herself calm down and fell into a deep sleep, absolutely exhausted from everything that happened these past few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought in the comments below :)
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	5. I will be there, standing by your side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava visits Sara in the hospital.
> 
> (Yes, this is Ava's point of view!! 👀)
> 
> P.S: Thanks to Nancy for proofreading it for me

**day 25**

It had been a few days since she found Sara unconscious in their apartment. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions, anger and sadness and regret coursing through her, but most of all: she was scared. Ava was so scared to lose the only woman she truly ever loved.

She knew she shouldn’t have let Sara all alone like that, but what the other woman said really hurt her deeply. She thought walking away from that situation would be a good thing for a while, but seeing her fiancée laying in that hospital bed for days made her question her decisions.

Ava had been staying with an old friend from college, Felicity was her name. The two were dormmates and had always gotten along. Besides, her friend’s place was pretty close to Ava’s place of work, the hospital, where she worked as a doctor.

The blonde had been by Sara’s side everyday after finishing her shifts, sometimes even falling asleep in the chair next to the bed whilst holding her girlfriend’s hand. Today was one of those days. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she woke up immediately, startled by the touch. Ava looked at Sara, who was still sleeping silently. She sighed and then focused on the other person in the room.

“Laurel, it’s you.”

Sara’s sister just sat down on the opposite side of the bed, glaring at her, not saying a word. Ava should’ve seen this coming. “Are you just going to ignore me?” She asked. Laurel let out a scoff. “I have the right to, don’t I? You hurt my sister. She ended up here because of you.” The darker blonde said, raising her eyebrow.

“She hurt me too. She told me to leave and to never come back so I listened. Hearing her say that she didn’t love me anymore broke my heart, Laurel! I didn’t know what else to do so I just ran. Is that so crazy?” Ava ranted, anger coursing through her body. Laurel now looked less mad than before. Her shoulders dropped and she stood up.

She walked over to the taller blonde and hugged her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Sara told me everything that happened. It was just hard seeing her so upset, Ava.” She sighed. Ava hugged back. “I know. This has to stop. She can’t go on like this anymore, Laurel.” She said, shooting a pleading look at Sara’s sister.

“I know.”

Ava went back to holding Sara’s hand in her own. She sighed, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend’s knuckles. She was surprised when the woman on the bed started moaning and moving slightly.

“Sara?” Laurel immediately ran back to the side of the bed, stroking her sister’s forehead. “Are you awake?” She asked. “Laurel?” A hoarse voice replied. This made Ava nervous. She let her hand go and basically bolted out of the room. At least she now knew that Sara was safe. She was going to be alright.

-

It was the next day. Ava had just finished her shift, thankfully. It had been a hard day, losing one of your patients absolutely sucked. So, it was time for her to go to Sara’s room. Even the sight of her girlfriend managed to cheer her up, it always did.

When she got to the door, she heard Sara and Laurel’s voices talking. Ava sighed and leaned against the wall. She didn’t want Sara to see her, so she didn’t enter the room. She sat down and just waited and waited.

After almost an hour, it got quiet. The blonde got startled when the door opened, and there was Laurel. Sara’s sister gazed at her with a disappointed look. “How long have you been sitting here, Ava?” She asked. The latter shrugged, not saying a word. Laurel sighed and moved to sit next to her, taking one of the woman’s hands in hers. “Sara really wants to see you, you know that, right? She’s spent most of the day awake, which is a good thing.” She said.

Ava groaned. “I know, Laurel. I want to see her too. But I’m not ready to see her like that. Awake, I guess. What she said that day really hurt. I just need time to process it. Is that so bad?” She pouted. Laurel squeezed her hand tighter. “Take all the time you need, Ava. But you have to promise me, you’ll get back to her soon, okay?” She held up her pinky finger and tried her best to look intimidating. The taller blonde laughed and put hers around Laurel’s. “I promise. I love her so much, Laurel. I want to be there for her, when I’m ready.” Ava said with a small smile.

Laurel looked her over one more time and then hugged her. “She’s asleep, so if you’re quiet enough, you can go see her.” She said, pulling away and standing up. “Thank you.” Ava stood up too. “Anyways, I have to go home now. Tommy needs me.” She grinned and waved. Then she left.

Ava went up to the door, breathed deeply in and out before entering the room. Her girl was sleeping soundly. She let out a relieved sigh and stood next to the bed, leaning down to press a kiss on Sara’s forehead. Ava slightly took a step back when the woman in the bed started making soft noises. One of her icy blue eyes opened. The taller woman just smiled.

“Go back to sleep, baby.”

And just like that, Sara fell asleep again. Ava could breathe again. She sat down in the chair and held her hand. “I love you so much.” She whispered, pressing another kiss on the woman’s knuckles. Ava’s eyes started watering when she thought of one of the best memories they had together; the night they officially became girlfriends.

-

_It had been a few weeks since their first kiss that night. It had been awkward. Sara and Ava didn’t really know how to act around one another. The two had been so used to being just friends for a few years that they didn’t know what to do in this awkward stage of their blooming relationship. So, tonight was the night it would change, Ava would make sure of it. She’d invited her over for their weekly movie night and was planning to ask Sara to be her girlfriend._

_So, here she was. Waiting nervously for Sara to arrive. The doorbell rang, startling her. She jumped up from the couch and rushed to the front door. Ava wiped her clammy hands on her black jumpsuit and opened the door, a big smile immediately blooming at the sight of her._

_“Hey! You made it.”_

_Sara’s eyes looked her up and down and Ava blushed madly. “You look amazing.” She whispered breathlessly. “You look awesome too. Amazing. Gorgeous.” The tall blonde stammered nervously as she looked her up and down. The woman’s hair was curled and she was wearing a bright red lipstick. Sara smirked and stepped into the hallway, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek and then shrugged off her coat, revealing a red tanktop and black leather pants._

_Sara settled on the couch, while Ava went to get some snacks and drinks from the kitchen. “Do you need help, Aves?” She asked when she heard a loud bang and something clattering on the marble floor. “No!” The blonde yelled back. Sara smiled to herself and shook her head. Ava rushed into the room, with two glasses of red wine in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other._

_“Watch out, babe, or you’ll fall.”_

_And then it happened. Ava tripped, falling onto the soft rug. She’d managed to put down the bowl of popcorn, but the wine glasses were shattered in tiny pieces on the floor and there were red splotches of wine everywhere. “Fuck! I’m sorry.” She stood up and tried to grab a few pieces of glass, almost injuring herself in the process. “Hey! Stop that.” Sara grabbed onto Ava’s shaky hands and pulled her towards her, sitting her down on the couch._

_Ava seemed to be panicking, her eyes focusing towards the mess on the floor. “Are you okay?” The smaller woman leaned closer to her face. She got worried when the other blonde didn’t answer. “Aves, look at me.” She softly whispered. When she didn’t get a reaction out of her yet again, she tilted the woman’s head towards her. Sara softly kissed her, pulling Ava out of her trance._

_“Are you with me?”_

_Ava started nodding, her eyes slightly watering. “I’m sorry, I messed it all up, didn’t I? Our first date. It was supposed to be perfect. And now I’ve ruined it.” She looked down onto her lap. Sara chuckled. “Ava, you don’t have to be so nervous around me. It’s just me. And you haven’t ruined it, I promise. Don’t forget we’ve been friends for awhile. I know all about you and your clumsiness. It’s one of the many things I lo- like about you.” She said, brushing a strand of long hair behind Ava’s ear. The taller blonde just gazed at her softly._

_“We should clean this up and then watch that stupid movie. Maybe even cuddle, who knows?” Sara smirked and stood up, getting the dustpan and the brush._

_-_

_Ava’s eyes focused on the woman beside her. She watched as Sara laughed at something in the movie, her dimples showing and her icy blue eyes sparkling with pure joy. Ava’s lips curled upwards into a smile. The smaller woman turned around, catching her in the act._

_“What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?” Sara asked, immediately reaching for her phone to check. Ava grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. She smiled and kissed her knuckles, making Sara blush lightly. “I was just thinking of how lucky I am. That you’re with me.” The tall blonde softly admitted._

_“Are you getting soft on me, Sharpe?” The woman smiled. Ava shrugged. “Yeah, I think I am.” She said. There was a comfortable silence for a few seconds, before they reached for one another. Sara’s hands found her cheeks and Ava’s hands were on her waist. The two smiled. Then, they finally kissed. It was slow and soft, but also passionate._

_Sara’s thumb brushed Ava’s cheek when they broke apart. Their foreheads rested against each other’s. Ava’s eyes were still closed, so it gave Sara the chance to truly admire the woman’s beauty up close. “Ava...” She sighed. Ava was now looking at her with so much love in her eyes. It made Sara feel all giddy inside._

_“Sara, you make me feel so happy and safe. You’re all I can think about everyday. Whenever I think of you, it brings a smile on my face. And whenever you’re with me, I get so giddy, nervous and elated all the same time. I just really, really, like you, Lance. I hope you feel the same way, because otherwise it’d be awkward. But, um, I actually had a question that I needed to ask.” Ava breathed deeply in and out, though her worries completely vanished when she saw how softly Sara was looking at her._

_“Will you be my girlfriend?”_

_Sara smiled widely before pulling her into another kiss. “Yes, yes, of course I will, dummy. And you make me feel all of those things, too.” She said in between kisses. The taller blonde pressed one more chaste kiss to Sara’s lips, before pulling away completely. Then, the two just started laughing randomly out of nowhere._

_It was safe to say they had a great night._

-

Ava wiped a tear away from her face, kissing Sara’s forehead once more before standing up. “I promise I’ll be back soon, my love.” She tearfully smiled at the sleeping woman. She took a few more seconds to just look at her fiancée, before walking out of the room quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the comments below :)
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	6. can't help falling in love with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara finally is allowed to leave the hospital, and has to make an important decision. 
> 
> P.S: Be warned, there's a lot of fluff in this one.. Happy Valentines Day!

**day 28**

Sara looked around the almost empty hospital room. Her bag was packed and Laurel was standing by her bed side. Today was the day she was allowed to leave, finally. She got tired of the gross hospital food after one week, so, this was a good thing.

She smiled at her sister, who, in turn was looking at her with a stern look. “Have you decided what to do yet?” Laurel asked with her arms crossed on her chest. Sara shrugged. “I don’t know. I know I need to seek help, after everything that happened. But, I’m not sure I can do this. I know how much it sucked for you when you had to stay in rehab. I don’t want that.” She sighed, not looking up from her lap. Her sister sighed too, before grabbing one of Sara’s hands.

“Look at me, Sara, and listen to me. I know you can do this. You are so strong. It may be hard at first but once you get through the first few stages, it’ll only start to feel better, I promise. It’s your decision, but I support you 100% regardless of what you do. And I know Ava does too.”

At that sentence, Sara’s face dropped again.

“Well, clearly she doesn’t. She hasn’t shown up at all, Laurel. I don’t think she loves me anymore after what I said to her. Which is understandable, because I was drunk and stupid and wasted and when she appeared I just couldn’t stop my blabbering mouth. I just wish I could fix it.” She wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye and looked at Laurel sadly. Sara was surprised when she saw her sister looking at her, mouth wide and eyes big. “What?” She exclaimed.

“Honey, Ava has been coming in here like every day. She was by your bedside almost all the time when you were unconscious. Let's not forget the fact that she brought you in. She still loves you, Sara. She just needs time to heal. You owe her at least that.”

The smaller blonde was absolutely speechless, not knowing what to say at all. She started smiling, fidgeting with the engagement ring that she was still wearing. She has never taken it off since the day Ava proposed.

“Did she tell you that?” Sara asked, her blue eyes meeting her sister’s. A tiny smile appeared on Laurel’s face as she nodded. “Yeah, she did. I can tell she clearly still loves you, Sara. I’m sure everything will be okay in the end.” She said.

“Honestly, if you and Ava don’t end up together, I’ll eat my shoe. The love you two have for each other is so special. Just believe in it.” Sara chuckled at this and shrugged. “I guess we’ll see.” She said. Her sister started ruffling her hair, making the smaller blonde yelp in surprise. “Hey!” Sara exclaimed.

“Remember that Valentines Day three years ago? When you called me up that night because the two of you had just said ‘I love you’ to each other. You were so excited, it was too cute.” Laurel laughed. Sara laughed too, all of her dimples appearing.

“Yeah, I could never forget. That was one crazy but amazing day.” She smiled as she thought of that day.

-

_Sara felt a nudge against her ribs, waking up immediately as she tried to register what just happened. She opened her eyes and there she was, her girlfriend. Ava was looking at her excitedly with a big smile on her face. “What are you grinning at, you dork?” Sara asked in confusion. “Babe! It’s Valentines Day!” The taller blonde exclaimed and then started to kiss her everywhere on her face but her mouth._

_“Come here, Aves!” Sara chuckled before pulling her so she was laying on top of her. She leaned up, kissing Ava softly on her lips. They both relaxed into it. It had been almost five months since their relationship officially had started, but every kiss still felt like the first time._

_Ava stood up quickly and pulled her girlfriend out of bed. “No!” Sara groaned. She looked at the clock and was surprised when it was only 7 in the morning. “It’s so early!” She sighed. She tried to get back on the bed but the taller one didn’t let her. “I made breakfast, babe. You have to come downstairs.” Ava said with a pout. Sara couldn’t resist and the two went downstairs._

_The smaller woman’s eyes widened almost comically when she noticed the state of the living room. Everything was pink, red and white. There were pin balloons, red hearts placed all over. She winced. “What did you do to my apartment?” She gasped. "I, um.. I didn’t know you celebrated Valentines Day like this?” Sara asked, making Ava turn around in surprise. “I don’t. Never like this. But, you are so special to me, Sara. You deserve to be appreciated.” The tall blonde said, a big smile still present on her face. “Why, do you not like it?” She asked, her shoulders dropping in sadness._

_“No! No, I love it. I promise.” Sara quickly said, trying her best to make her smile look genuine. She let out a relieved sigh when Ava started smiling again. “Good! Because I made breakfast for us.” She walked to the kitchen. The small blonde’s eyes widened again and she quickly dashed to the kitchen. Thankfully, nothing looked like there had been a fire. “Since when can you cook?” She asked in confusion. Ava laughed._

_“I took cooking classes recently, just for this special occasion.” She smiled._

_“Anyways, I made us french toast. And it’s slowly cooling off so come on, let’s go eat!”_

_-_

_Once their breakfast was finished, Ava stood up again. Sara looked at her with a bewildered expression. “What’s up, babe?” She asked. The tall blonde let out a squeal. “I forgot to run the bath, wait, I’ll be right back!” And with that, the woman sprinted upstairs. Sara sighed and plopped herself down on the couch, putting on the TV. She mindlessly watched whatever was on._

_Until she heard stomping coming down the stairs and saw the door open. Ava looked at the television and then back at her girlfriend. “Honey, we don’t have time to watch TV.” She turned it off and then grabbed Sara’s hand, pulling her with her. “What are you- Ava!” The other woman exclaimed in surprise. “It’s time for you to relax. I prepared a bath for you, so come!”_

_She pulled her to the bathroom and opened the door. “Oh!” Sara stammered when she saw the room. There were rose petals everywhere, including the bath. The water was pink with golden specks in it, clearly the result of a bath bomb. She turned and looked at her girlfriend softly. “You did this for me?” Sara softly whispered. Ava’s face fell slightly. “Of course I did. You deserve it, love.” She said, putting her hand on the woman’s cheek and caressed the skin there. She smiled when Sara leaned into her touch and shut her eyes. Ava couldn’t resist and she pressed a chaste kiss on her mouth, and then on her nose and forehead._

_“Go take a bath. I’ll be here when you come back.”_

_-_

_It had been almost an hour since. Sara had just taken the chance to truly relax and start the day right. Even though she wasn’t really a fan of all the ridiculous decorations and sappiness that is Valentines Day but she decided to accept it, for Ava’s sake. The woman had done so much for her already and the day just started. She quickly dressed herself in a comfy sweater and some matching sweatpants and made her way downstairs._

_The first thing she noticed was the smell of something sweet coming from the kitchen. “Babe?” She shouted. Her girlfriend’s head popped out. “You’re here! Just go sit on the couch, these cupcakes are almost done.” Ava said. Sara heard some clattering but didn’t pay attention to it. Instead, she just looked at her phone, checking texts and to see if she received any important e-mails._

_Ava walked back in the room, grabbed Sara’s phone and laid it down on the table. “Hey, I was looking at that!” The woman protested. The taller blonde just grinned and sat down on her lap, putting her arms around Sara’s neck and leaning in close to her face. “I’ve missed you.” She lowly whispered. The other one looked confused. "It's only been an hour, babe." She said. Ava shut her up by connecting their lips and kissing her passionately. Sara couldn’t help but go with it._

_Though, after almost a minute of making out, she decided it was enough and pulled back. The two breathed heavily, their eyes still closed from the intense kissing. Sara chuckled, holding on to her girlfriend tightly and kissed her softly on her cheek. Ava plopped down next to her instead and laid her head on her shoulder, making the smaller one smile._

_“So, what have you planned next?” Sara asked in a joking manner. The tall one immediately jumped back up from the couch, startling Sara. “Right! Well, I’ve made some cupcakes. And I was planning to bake some cookies after. And then, I have a surprise planned for you. Speaking of, I should probably check the cupcakes.” Ava said, rushing to the kitchen. Sara sighed and shook her head in disappointment._

_-_

_After 3 hours of finishing the cupcakes and making the cookies, it was finally almost done. Ava was constantly checking on the time, not wanting the cookies to burn. Sara walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her waist. The taller woman softly smiled and leaned into her arms. They stood like that for a few minutes, not paying attention to their surroundings. “Can we actually spend some time together now?” She heard from behind her. Ava chuckled and turned around, putting her hands on Sara’s cheeks. “It’s almost time, babe, I just need to focus on these cookies, and-”_

_But before she could finish her sentence, Sara gasped. “What?” She asked in confusion. “Babe, look!” The woman pointed to the oven and dashed to it, pulling out the tray of the now burnt cookies. “No!” Ava groaned and put her head in the hands. “I ruined it.” She whispered._

_Sara gazed at her, clearly concerned. She pulled the woman’s hands away from her eyes. “What’s wrong?” She questioned. After a while, Ava started explaining. “I just, I wanted this day to be perfect. For once. But now, I clearly failed. I just wanted to make you feel special.” Her shoulders slumped and she looked down to the ground. Sara sighed and grabbed her hand. She led her back to the living room and made her sit down on the couch. She gently kissed the back of Ava’s hand as she crouched down in front of the woman._

_“Listen to me, Aves. You didn’t fail at anything, okay? You tried your best, and that’s all you can do. Besides, I don’t really care for this anyway, so it doesn’t matter, okay?”_

_Ava felt a tear running down her cheek. “See, I didn’t even know that you dislike this stupid holiday.” She whispered. Sara sighed. “It’s okay. We haven’t been together for that long, you know. we’re still finding out little things about each other. Remember that I didn’t even know you have a weird obsession over serial killers? We were friends and yet I didn’t know that about you until a few days ago.” She chuckled._

_“The point is, you don’t need to be perfect for me. I like all of you, even your flaws. It makes you human. All I want from today, is just to spend some time with you. Without interruptions.” Sara grinned at her girlfriend._

_A small smile appeared on the taller woman’s face. “Really? So, you won’t break up with me?” She asked with a small voice. The other one scoffed. “Of course not! How can you even think that? I love you. And I plan on keeping you around.” Sara leaned in and rested her forehead against Ava’s._

_“You do?”_

_“Yes. I love you with all my heart, Ava Sharpe.”_

_Ava felt some more tears rolling down her cheeks now, this time it was happy tears. But she could care less. She leaned in and kissed her girlfriend softly. “Good, because I love you too, Sara Lance. So much.” She practically beamed with joy. “You do?” Sara asked, clearly mocking her. The tall one elbowed her and pouted. “Don’t make fun of me!” Ava exclaimed. Sara kissed the pout away._

_“So, can we now just finally cuddle and watch some of those horrible rom-coms that you like?”_

_“Hmm, I don’t know,” Ava said as she pondered in thought. “I actually had something else in mind. Because, I might have a gift for you.” She explained. Sara looked surprised. “Oh my gosh, because of all this, it completely slipped my mind. I have a gift for you too.”_

_-_

_The two got back downstairs after retrieving the gifts they bought for one another. Ava breathed in and out deeply and quickly handed Sara a small box as they sat back down on the couch. “Oh, what could this be?” The woman asked. She opened up the box and gasped as soon as she saw what it was. “Babe, I can’t take this.” Sara exclaimed, her eyes focusing back on her girlfriend. Ava just nodded. “I had it made specificially for you. I can’t really return it, you know.” She grinned._

_In the box, there was a silver necklace, with a small pendant in the shape of a bird. A canary. “I got it for you because you always loved these birds, right? I remember you telling me that one story from your childhood, when you and Laurel had a canary as a pet. I thought this would be a nice thing. So..” Ava shrugged._

_“You are amazing.” Sara whispered. It had meant a lot to her. It clearly showed that her girlfriend really does listen to everything she tells her. It made her heart swell with admiration. “Quick, can you put it on for me?” She asked, turning around and holding up her blonde, wavy hair. Ava picked up the necklace and put it around her girl’s neck. “There you go, my love.” She said, pressing a soft kiss on Sara’s neck._

_Sara shuddered lightly. She shrugged it off and grabbed Ava’s gift from the floor. “Here.” She handed her the big box. “Oh my, what is this?” Ava couldn’t help but be excited by the size of it. She opened the gift and immediately smiled. It was a big, fluffy teddy bear. “Aw, this is too cute.” The tall woman gushed, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. She hugged the bear._

_The other woman felt her heart racing when she witnessed the cuteness of her girlfriend. “But wait until you hear this.” She pressed down hard in the middle of the stuffed toy. Ava’s mouth opened in surprise when a voice came from the teddy bear. It was Sara’s._

_“Hi babe, it’s me, Sara. I, um- I just wanted to tell you that you are the best girlfriend I could’ve ever wished for. I love you, Aves. So much. And I hope you love me back. Because otherwise this would be very awkward.”_

_Ava gazed softly at her girl before dropping the bear, leaning in and kissing her once again. “Hmm, I love it. This really is the best gift anyone has ever given me.” She softly said. “You deserve to be appreciated too, babe. I’m glad you like it.” Sara smiled, putting a loose strand of hair behind the taller woman’s ear._

_“Can we watch those stupid movies now?” She pouted. Ava laughed at this._

_“Yes, babe. yes we can.”_

_They had spent the rest of the day in each other’s arms, enjoying just being together. The couple’s first Valentines Day may have been crazy, but they absolutely loved it. The women both knew that it would be the start of many more._

-

Sara got startled when she heard a door open. There was her sister again, her duffel bag in her hand. “Are you ready to go?” Laurel questioned. The smaller blonde slowly got off the bed and walked to her sister. “Wait, Laurel.” She stopped her from walking away.

“I have thought about it. I’ll check myself into rehab. I need to get better. I need to work on myself first before fixing my relationship with Ava.”

Her sister tearfully smiled at her. “Good. I’m proud of you.” Laurel said before pulling her into a hug. Sara smiled and hugged her back.

“Yeah. I can do this. I’m already pretty proud of myself, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are enjoying your Valentines Day! Let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments below 🥰💗 
> 
> P.S: I can't believe there's only four chapters left..
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	7. keeping my head above water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara gets a gift from Ava while she's at rehab.

**day 49**

It had been some of the hardest weeks she had ever been through. Sara had checked into the local rehabilitation center in Star City almost immediately after leaving the hospital. She knew it was necessary, because she had to get better. But oh, it was so hard.

The first week of her stay may have been the hardest one of all. Sara had to detox, meaning she had to get really clean from alcohol first. That week, she felt weak and sick. She absolutely hated it. Thankfully, Laurel and even Tommy were there for her throughout the whole process. Sara had worried she’d messed up her friendship with Tommy, but he was as kind as ever, smiling and telling her it was okay. That made her feel so much better.

She was glad that her stay at the rehabilitation center was almost over. Just over a week to go. She’d be going to the mandatory therapy sessions. It had actually helped her a little, to her surprise. Sara was never one for talking about her problems, but expressing her grief for her dad and talking about her broken relationship with Ava made her feel relieved. Sure, she’d talked about it briefly with her sister, but it wasn’t the same.

Sara was just reading a book when she heard a knock on her door. “Come in!” She said, looking up to see who it was. She smiled at Laurel who walked in with a teddy bear. “Aww, how cute! Is that for me?” The smaller blonde cooed, reaching out for it with her arms. “Yes.” Her sister said, handing her the bear and sitting down on the chair next to her bed.

Sara immediately cuddled into the bear. Laurel smiled briefly. “How are you holding up, Sara?” She asked. The other woman just shrugged. “It’s been okay. To be honest, it’s so boring here. I know it’s helping a lot, and I’m so thankful. But I really miss just being able to chill on the couch, watch some dumb movie instead of being under observation 24/7.” She snorted. Her sister chuckled, grabbing her hand. “I know. You’ll be out of here soon, though. Time has flown by. I’m so proud of you.” She replied.

The smaller blonde tightened her grip and smiled. “That means a lot. Thank you.” “Anyways, I’m sorry to cut this so short, but I really need to get back home.” Laurel sighed as she stood up, hugging Sara quickly. Her little sister pouted. “But wait, how is it going with Tommy, and you know..” Sara said, gesturing at her body. Laurel’s shoulders sagged. “We’re still trying.” She answered. “Aww, I’m sure it’ll happen soon. And when it does, you’ll be the best mom this future kid could ask for.” Sara softly said. Her sister smiled sadly. “I hope it works out soon.” She answered.

Laurel moved to the door. “Wait!” Sara exclaimed. The woman turned around in surprise. “What?” She asked. “How’s Ava doing? She hasn’t visited me.” The smaller one questioned. She felt this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “You know, she’s been busy at the hospital. We’ve talked like twice these past few weeks, so, don’t worry, Sara. She’s okay.” Laurel softly said.

Sara let out a breath of relief, the feeling of sadness gone. “Okay, I’m glad.” She said. Her sister chuckled, pointing to the bear. “She actually was the one who told me to give it to you.” She smirked, opening the door and waved goodbye.

The blonde started grinning at this. Her mood lightened, she felt a surge of happiness and hope coursing through her. “I love you, Ava.” She softly whispered to the stuffed animal she was holding. Her mind wandered off. Sara smiled as she thought of that day when she and Ava officially moved in together.

-

_“Babe, this is the last box! We’re almost done!” Ava happily squealed, slowly walking to the door of their new home. She puffed out a breath of air as she tried to carry the heavy box into the house. “I’ve got this, babe.” Sara appeared from the living room and walked to the front door. She grinned, picking up the box with ease and getting it inside. “Damn, I really should hit the gym sometime.” The taller blonde pouted, following her girlfriend into the living room._

_“That’s alright, baby. You look and are perfect just the way you are.” Sara pressed a kiss to her cheek as Ava slung an arm around her waist. She blushed lightly. “Thank you.” She smiled. The two women looked around their freshly-painted home. “Now, we just have to unpack all of these boxes.” Ava sighed, her shoulders sagging from exhaustion. “I’m already tired just thinking about it.” She continued, pouting at her girlfriend._

_“Well, we don’t have to think about that right now.” Sara turned towards her, putting a strand of hair behind her girlfriend’s ear. “All we have to think about is you and me, and the fact that our bed is calling our names.” She seductively whispered. The smaller woman leaned in close to her face and kissed the corner of Ava’s mouth. The other blonde was left completely breathless by this. “Sara..” She whispered back. Sara winked and pulled back, walking to the stairs and slowly going upstairs, not breaking eye contact with her love._

_Ava visibly swallowed. She kept standing there as if she was in a state of shock. “Baby, are you coming?” Sara said from the bedroom, after a minute of waiting._

_“U-um, yes. I’m coming!”_

_-_

_The two women both sighed as they laid back on the bed. Their bodies entwined with the sheets covering them. Sara turned on her side and just stared at her girlfriend. After a full minute, Ava chuckled. “Stop staring at me.” She said. The small blonde just shook her head. “Sorry, you’re too beautiful, I can’t stop staring.” She gushed. Ava turned to face Sara now, too. She was taken aback with the amount of love she saw in the woman’s eyes._

_“Are you getting soft on me?”_

_“You know I am. You have my heart forever, Sharpe.”_

_Ava smiled brightly and softly kissed her on the lips. “I love you so much.” She whispered. Sara quickly glanced to the teddy bear sitting on the nightstand. The one she gave her girlfriend on that one Valentines Day a few years ago. She grinned and moved forward, their foreheads touching and their eyes closing. They just laid there like that for a few minutes, enjoying just being in each other’s arms. “I love you too, Ava. You really are the best thing that ever happened to me.” Sara finally replied. The taller woman hummed softly, turning so she laid on her back again._

_“Can you believe we actually live together now? Like, this is really our house now. Our home.” Ava murmured, a big smile appearing on her face afterwards. Sara put her head on her girlfriend’s chest. “Well, you better believe it, babe. This is just the start of our life together. I cannot wait to grow old with you.” Sara replied. She pulled back the sheet a little, kissing the side Ava’s chest softly. The other woman blushed and lowly groaned. Her hand raked through Sara’s hair as she continued to press kisses everywhere. “Hmm, babe, please.. Don’t stop.” She moaned._

_“Are you ready for round two?”_

_“Yes, please, Sara!”_

-

Her heart filled with warmth and she pressed the bear closer to herself. Sara got startled when she heard a voice. She looked around but then noticed the noise was coming from the stuffed animal. Tears filled her eyes when she realized whose voice it was Ava’s.

“Hey, Sara. It’s me. Ava, if you hadn’t realized that yet. Um, I know you’re trying to get better right now, which is good, g-great even. I just wanted to say I’m sorry that I can’t visit you while you’re there. I really wish I could, but it’s so busy at work. Anyways, please just keep on fighting. You can do this, Lance. I- I care about you, so much. I always will.”

The message ended and Sara wasn’t surprised when she felt tears starting to flow down her face. “A-Ava..” She sobbed. She held the bear as she tried to locate her phone. She sighed in relief when she found it. Within a few seconds, she pulled up Ava’s number and let her thumb hover above the call button. Sara breathed deeply in and out and then pressed it. She held her breath as she carefully listened. After a few seconds, she heard some noise.

“Hi, this is Ava Sharpe speaking.”

Sara completely froze.

“Hello? Is there anyone?”

This made the woman finally say something back. “A-Ava?” She stuttered. “Wait, Sara? Is that you?” The other woman asked softly. Sara nodded, but then realized that she couldn’t see her. “Yes, it’s um, it’s me.” She replied. It was quiet for a few seconds, the only thing that Sara could hear was her own breathing and the loud hammering of her heart in her chest.

“Is everything okay?” Ava asked with a worried tone of voice. Sara sighed. “Yes, everything is okay. Fine. I just wanted, needed, to talk to you.” She softly said. “I got your message and um, I miss you, Ava. So much.” Sara continued to say. Then, a sigh came from the other side. “Gosh, Sara. I miss you so much too. I wish I could be there with you right now. But it still hurts. I’ll be with you once I’m ready.” The other woman explained. Sara felt her stomach drop. “Once you’re ready? When will that be?” She asked.

“I don’t know, Sara. What you said that day, it really hurt me. I need some more time to get over it, before I can support and love you fully again, like you deserve.”

Sara started sobbing again. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, Ava. I didn’t mean it, I just blurted it out. I was drunk. Please, you’ve got to know this. I never meant it. I promise I will never say anything like that again. I love you with all my heart, Ava.” She cried, tears now rolling down her cheeks fast. She only started crying harder when she heard some sniffling coming from her phone.

“Baby, I mean, Sara. Please, don’t cry. You know I can't take it when you cry.” Ava softly whimpered, clearly crying too. “I love you too. I never stopped, not even for a second.” The woman continued. “I promise, we’ll be okay. Just, give me some time, okay. I’ll try to be there when you get out from rehab.”

"Okay." She sighed. The smaller blonde wiped the tears away from her face. “Gosh, when did we get so sappy?” She tried to lighten the mood, softly chuckling. “Oh, Sara. That happened a long time ago.” Ava shyly laughed. The two were quiet for a while after that.

“Anyways, I have to go now. I’m sorry, Sara.”

“It’s okay. Go save lives. I’ll see you soon again.”

And with that, the phone call ended. Sara wiped away the remaining tears and cuddled the teddy bear. She closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're slowly getting closer to the end 👀 I hope you all liked it! Let me know what you thought of this chapter down below.
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians)


	8. there'll be bridges for us to mend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara gets out of rehab. Then, she gets an unexpected visitor.

**day 53**

Today was the day. Sara was finally allowed to leave the facility, after more than three weeks of treatment & therapy. To be honest, she felt like a whole new person. It had been hard at first but she was so glad she decided to do it. 

With a big smile, she stepped out of the car and walked to her door. Laurel was following her, carrying her bag. Sara opened the door quietly and made her way to the living room. Her sister put her bag gently down on the floor of the hallway. Laurel cleared her throat loudly and all of a sudden, tons of people appeared from everywhere in the living room.

“Surprise!” 

Sara almost fell, before she realized what was going on. She let out a spontaneous laugh as she took in who actually had shown up to this surprise party. She could see Tommy, Thea, Roy and even her mom standing there. Her mom, the woman she hadn’t talked to in years. Mostly because she lived in Central City and never had much time for her children. Though, it somehow still felt like a relief to see her.

She walked up to her mother and wrapped her up in a hug. “Mom, you’re here.” She softly whispered. Dinah held on to her daughter tightly. “Sara, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I’ve treated you and your sister badly, I realize that now. I should’ve been here, especially after your dad..” She paused and took a breath. “I promise I’ll make more time for you and Laurel from now on.” 

“It’s okay, mom.” Sara replied as they kept hugging. She felt someone tapping on her shoulder. The blonde wasn’t surprised to see Tommy there, his arms wide open. She chuckled and hugged him. “I’m proud of you, Sara.” He said. “Thank you so much, Tommy.” Sara sighed happily. 

She wiped some tears from her face as the next two people came up to her. It was Thea and Roy. The smaller woman smiled at their entwined hands. “So, you two finally got together, huh?” She smirked. The brunette and her boyfriend didn’t say anything, but their grins on their faces basically said it all. “I’m happy for you guys.” Sara laughed. She quickly hugged the two. “I’m glad you’re alright, Sara.” Thea replied, rubbing over her friend’s back in comfort.

Sara smiled at the couple as she pulled back from the group hug. She started to properly look around, to hopefully find the woman she was actually looking for. Her heart dropped when she realized she wasn’t there. “Ava.” She softly whispered. 

All of a sudden, a blonde wearing glasses stumbled into the room. 

“Felicity?” 

“Hey, Sara.” 

The woman walked towards her, pulling her into a quick hug. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I kinda forgot about this surprise thing Laurel had planned and then Ava told me it was today, so I had to rush. And I didn’t know what to wear so it honestly took ages. And then my car stopped working, so then I had the walk the rest of the way here. On heels. Which honestly really sucks.” The girl stammered nervously. “It’s okay, Felicity.” Sara chuckled lightly.

She looked around the room once again, trying to spot the familiar blonde, but to no avail. Felicity noticed it and sadly smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Sara.” She softly sighed. Sara breathed in and out deeply once, trying to hide her disappointment. She smiled way too wide at the woman standing in front of her. 

“She actually had an emergency at work.” 

“I’m sure she did. Thanks for coming, Felicity.”

And with that, she tried to shrug it off the best she could. All what mattered now is spending time with her loved ones. The ones that bothered to come.

-

Exactly a week after the surprise party, there was a knock on her door. Sara looked up from her phone. She was browsing to see if there were any other available apartments in Star City. Honestly, the memories of this house were killing her. All she could think about were the memories that she and Ava had made. Sara had hoped that Ava would’ve at least contacted her somehow, whether it was via a phone call or a text. But nothing happened. So, she decided it’d be a better idea to at least start looking. 

Sara put her phone down and rushed to the front door, opening it quickly. Her eyes widened when she realized who was standing there. Of course, it was Ava. Her love. Her fiancée. The woman in front of her looked back at her with a tearful smile and pain visible in her eyes.

“Ava..” She whispered, breathless.

“Can I come in? I mean, I could’ve just opened the door myself because I still have my key but I didn’t want to scare you by suddenly turning up, so I..”

Sara held up her hand as a sign for her to stop rambling.

“You can come in. This is still your home too, Ava.”

-

The two women awkwardly sat down on opposite sides of the couch. Ava was nervously fidgeting with the ring on her own finger. She kept looking down instead of meeting her girlfriend’s eyes.

“Ava,” Sara said softly. The woman didn’t even react. The smaller blonde sighed and put her hand over Ava’s, stopping her in her tracks immediately. She finally looked up at her.

“Look, if you want to break up with me, I totally understand. I’ve treated you badly, Ava. I get it if you want to stop,” She breathed in and out deeply once. “This. Our relationship.” Sara finished, biting her lip from the stress. “No! I mean, definitely not, Sara. That’s not what I came here for.” Ava replied. She tightened her grip on the smaller one’s hand. 

“I wanted to apologize, for everything, Sara.”

The blonde frowned in confusion. She opened her mouth to interrupt but Ava continued.

“I should’ve been there for you. Not only this last month but before I left. I should’ve stopped you from drinking to begin with. I guess I just hoped you would eventually stop, so I ignored all of the signs of your addiction. Instead I just focused on work and left you all alone. it absolutely killed me inside knowing I could’ve helped you. It’s why I stayed away for so long, Sara. All I wanted to ask is, will you forgive me?”

Sara’s mouth basically dropped from surprise but also confusion. “Ava, you didn’t do anything wrong. You were there when I needed you. It’s not your fault that I started to use drinking as a coping mechanism. It’s not your fault that I got addicted to it. Honestly, I should’ve thought about how you felt more, too. I was being selfish and was drunk most of the time. I put you through hell and back, Ava. I said some things that I never should have. I’m the one that should ask for forgiveness, babe. Not you.” She wiped some tears away from her face before grabbing both of her girlfriend’s hands again.

“So, Ava Sharpe. Will you forgive me for what I’ve done? I promise I will never, ever hurt you like that again.” She sobbed silently. “I love you so much. Life sucks without you and I really regret what I did to you.” The small blonde sighed, looking down to her lap. 

Then, it happened. A finger landed under her chin, pushing her face back up gently. Ava pulled her hands out of Sara’s grip and put them on her cheeks instead. She gently caressed the skin there, looking the woman in the eyes. There were only a few inches left between the two.

“Listen to me, Sara. I love you too. Of course, I’ll forgive you. We definitely have to keep talking though. This relationship won’t work if we don’t communicate.” Ava replied. Sara nodded up and down desperately. The tall one finally leaned in and started kissing her girl softly.

All of a sudden, the world seemed a lot brighter to the couple again. They felt hope rising and so much love for each other. Sara and Ava were unbreakable. From now on, they were a team again. 

They exchanged soft kisses, with big smiles in between. 

“Hmm, I really missed this.” Ava groaned. As Sara pressed a few kisses to her neck. The latter basically smirked before going back up and kissing her fiancée chastely. She pulled back after a few seconds. Her eyes were closed but there still was a big grin on her face. Sara felt so happy in this moment, finally getting to touch Ava again, to kiss her and basically drive her mad. Ava smiled back, not saying a word.

“I love you.” Sara softly whispered.

The taller blonde started smiling even more, her cheeks lowkey starting to hurt from the amount of smiling she had been doing since she’d gotten there.

“I love you too. Always and forever.”

The two embraced as they both thought back to that one day. The day that meant so much to them.

-

_“This is so beautiful!” Sara whistled, looking at the beautiful sight in front of her. Ava had taken her on a hike that afternoon. They had watched the sun go down and now, the two women were laying down on the grass, staring at the blinking stars in the sky._

_“Oh, babe! I see a shooting star! You have to make a wish now.”_

_Sara chuckled at this, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend’s nose before closing her eyes and thought of a wish. “Done.” She said when she came up with one. Ava rose an eyebrow. “Well, what did you wish for?” She asked. The smaller woman shook her head. “No! Aves, if I tell you, it won’t come out.” Sara said, sticking her tongue out to tease her._

_“But babe, I want to know.” The taller one pouted, her eyes twinkling in the moonlight. The sight of her adorable girlfriend made her almost cave in. Instead, she started tickling Ava, who then moved around violently._

_“Hey! Stop it, Lance. You know I can’t stand tickling.” She groaned. Sara snickered but stopped anyway. She stood up all of a sudden, making Ava look at her in confusion. She reached out her hand and the taller blonde immediately took it. She was facing Sara now. “Babe, is something wrong?” She worriedly asked._

_Sara nodded. “Everything is completely fine, I promise. I just had a question that I really needed to ask you.” She said as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers. “It’s actually a part of my wish, so this better come out now.” She continued. Then, her intentions became clear when she dropped down on one knee._

_“Anyways.. Ava, my love. You mean so much to me. Sometimes I still can’t believe my luck when I’m with you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Every single day with you is a new adventure. And I’d really like to keep going on adventures with you. From now until forever.”_

_She held her breath before popping the question._

_“Will you marry me?”_

_It was quiet for a few seconds. Until Ava let out a hard laugh, making Sara feel slightly uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?” She asked in a small voice._

_“I’m laughing because you totally just beat me.” The tall woman chuckled, reaching out into her back pocket and pulling out a similar looking box. “I wanted to propose to you tonight. Why do you think I took you here?” She laughed, making the woman in front of her stand up._

_“R-really?” Sara stammered. Ava nodded. Then, an idea popped in her head. She got down on one knee and took Sara’s hand. “Sara Lance. You are the love of my life. My one and only. My always and beyond. I can’t imagine what life would be like without you, so, I have one specific question to ask.” She said.Sara started grinning widely as she let Ava continue. “Will you make me luckiest woman on the planet by agreeing to marry me?” Ava bit her lip as her blues found Sara’s._

_The smaller blonde shook her head before crashing her lips passionately against her now fiancée’s._

_“Of course I will. Gosh, I can’t wait to marry you, Aves.”_

-

The two women had been cuddling for the past hour, just watching some mindless TV. After a while, the comfortable silence disappeared.

“I have something I really wanted to ask you, Ava.” Sara softly asked, pressing a kiss to the side of her love’s neck before resting her head on her chest again. “What is it?” Ava asked. 

“I signed myself up for a support group. Alcoholics Anonymous, actually. I had some therapy during rehab and it actually helped me a lot.. So I thought it’d be a good idea to do it here, too. Talk about my experiences and stuff.” 

Ava carefully listened, a small smile visible on her face.

“Anyways, what I wanted to ask was.. Will you go to one of the meetings with me? It’d be nice if I had some support. But don’t feel obligated to, babe. It was just a suggestion, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable by this. If you are, then I’ll shut up about it and we can move on, I-”

The taller blonde put her hand over Sara’s, until she got quiet. “Don’t worry, Sara. I promised you I’d make my way back to you when I felt ready, right? Well, I’m here now. I’m ready to love you and support you completely.” She softly whispered, pressing a kiss to Sara’s hair.

The smaller woman started trembling slightly. Ava immediately got up and checked if everything was okay. “Sara? What’s going on?” Her eyes flit down her fiancée’s body to see if there was anything wrong. She stopped when Sara shook her head.

“No, babe. I just.. That means so much to me. Gosh, I love you so much.” She basically broke down after that. Ava felt a few tears rolling down her face now, too. She embraced her girl in a tight hug. “I love you, Lance. You’re never getting rid of me, even if you wanted to. And I couldn’t be more proud of you than I am right now.” She said as she rubbed the woman’s back.

“I’ll never want to. You are the love of my life too, Aves. Thank you for making your way back home to me.”

“I know this is cheesy and we still have a lot to work on, but, I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was it for chapter 8! Only two chapters left! Please let me know what you thought of this one in the comments below. ❤
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	9. I'll carry you home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to spoil anything.. Just prepare for lots of fluff 🥰🥰

**six months later**

  
Ava sighed in deeply in and out once, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She ran her hand through her curled hair. 

“Ava, don’t! You’ll ruin it.” 

She heard from behind her. She turned around and smiled. “Laurel!” Ava exclaimed happily, holding her arms out for a hug. The two women hugged, and after a few seconds they let each other go. The taller blonde looked up and down. “Aw, Laurel, you look amazing!” Ava grinned. Laurel was dressed in a lilac dress, her hair wavy and some light make-up on her face. Sara’s sister smiled widely and put a hand on Ava’s shoulder.

“Thank you. Now, it’s time to make you look pretty for your wedding.” 

She nodded nervously, her heart started hammering loudly in her chest and her hands immediately got clammy. “Yes.” She said as she sat down in the chair. Laurel just kept smiling, turning the woman’s face towards her and started applying make-up. 

-

“So, you are almost done.” 

The smaller woman said, finishing the look with a nice, pink lipstick. Ava sighed as she looked in the mirror again. “Do I look good?” She asked, turning around to face Laurel. “Of course, you look absolutely stunning. My sister is going to love it.” The woman grinned, winking at her. “Now, hurry up and put on your wedding dress!” Laurel continued, grabbing all of her make-up and putting it back in her bag.

“Okay.” Ava nodded. She gently got the dress from the clothes hanger and left to put it on. 

Once she finally got it on, she stepped back into the room. The tall blonde was quite surprised to see Laurel and Sara’s mother there, both with matching smiles on their faces. She smiled back nervously and smoothed out the lacy fabric of her dress. She adjusted the straps and then looked back at the women. “So, what do you think?” Ava asked. Her eyes flitting between the two standing in front of her.

“You look stunning. Sara’s going to love this.” Her future mother-in-law replied, her eyes tearing up. Ava pouted and hugged her. “Stop it, you’re going to make me cry, and then my make-up will be ruined.” She let out. Laurel joined the hug too. “No, mom, you better not make her cry because then I’ll have to do it all over again.” The woman groaned. 

The older woman wiped some tears away from her own face. “It’s just, I’m so happy my daughter is going to marry a great woman like you, Ava.” She said. Ava couldn’t help but tear up at this. “Thank you. It means a lot. I can’t wait to officially be a part of the Lance family.” She softly answered. Dinah looked at her and smiled once again. 

“Oh honey, you’ve been a part of this family for a long time.” 

-

Ava walked over to the big, double doors that would lead her to the love of her life. Her soulmate. Sara Lance. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of spending the rest of her life with Sara, and growing old with her. 

She gasped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Sara’s mom, again.

“Gosh, Dinah, you scared me.” She sighed, before her eyes widened in shock. “Wait, you should be in there already. Why aren’t you inside?” Ava questioned. “Is everything okay? Is Sara okay, I-” She continued, but Dinah stopped her. “Calm down, Ava. Sara specificially asked me to walk you down the aisle. And I accepted it because it’d be a honor to.” She softly explained, looking at her daughter-in-law with a kind smile. Ava smiled tearfully back and then nodded. “Thank you.” She said. She breathed in and out a few times.

“Are you ready?” 

“Always.”

-

The doors opened and with her arm around Dinah’s, she started walking slowly down the aisle. Her eyes focused on everyone in the room. She spotted Felicity, who waved excitedly, and then Laurel who put her thumbs up. Ava grinned and shook her head before focusing on the woman who was waiting for her.

Tears started filling her eyes again when she saw her. Sara was standing there, also in a simple, strapless, white dress. The taller blonde smiled once she stood in front of her love, grabbing her hand and pressing a light kiss on her knuckles. Sara moved closer and whispered.

“You are so beautiful, Aves.” 

“Have you seen yourself, Sara?” Ava whispered back, grinning before looking at the man who was standing in front of them. The couple had decided it’d be nice to have someone they both know marry them, so they chose Tommy. They asked a few months ago, and he just couldn’t refuse.

“Welcome everyone! On this beautiful day, Sara and Ava have brought us together to celebrate their love and union in matrimony. Thank you all for joining us and being a part of their love story.” Tommy said, looking at everyone in the room, before looking at his wife and winking. 

“After years of nurturing a beautiful, strong relationship, it’s great to see these two finally tying the knot and taking the next step towards building a family. If you’ve had the fortune that I have, you have witnessed Sara and Ava meet, from a rom-com worthy friendship to falling deeply in love.” 

Ava tightened her grip on Sara’s hand, making the woman turn to look at her with worry. The taller one just smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Sara pouted, caressing the back of her fiancée’s hand with her thumb in comfort. The two then focused back on Tommy and his speech.

“I remember the day Sara told her sister and me about their first date. She was so happy and couldn’t stop smiling. I’d never really seen that side of her before. She was so excited but also nervous. She worried that Ava wouldn’t feel the same after all. Little did she know that Ava was already calling her ‘the one’.” Tommy said, smiling big when the crowd started laughing. Sara groaned lightly and blushed. Ava couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It warms my heart to see the way they both look at one another. They look at each other with so much love. As if they’re soulmates. I’ve seen these two be there for each other. They fought through some pretty hard stuff, but they got even stronger and closer after each setback. I’ve seen them share laughs, collect so many inside jokes and most shocking of all, I’ve seen Sara share her desserts with Ava, which is when I knew this was serious.” The man grinned.

Everyone laughed again, even the two women. 

“Marriage isn’t easy, but I trust these two. I have trust in their love, their friendship and their commitment to one another. I know they’ll be there for each other, I know they’ll be loyal, and I know they’ll spend the rest of their lives growing and learning from another. With that, I think it’s time to let them speak on their love.” Tommy winked at the couple and took a small step back, gesturing for them to start talking.

Sara looked at Ava and grabbed both of her hands. 

“Ava, you are my best friend. I’m the luckiest that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the love of my life and you make me happier than I could’ve ever imagined. You make me feel more loved than I ever thought was possible. You make me unbelievably proud and I promise that I will make you proud as your wife. I vow to listen and learn from you. I vow to laugh with you and cry with you. I vow to value our differences just as much as our common ground. I vow to put all my effort into strengthening our marriage and giving you so much love, always. I’ll be here for you on good days and bad days, rain or shine. I’ll love you forever, Ava. I’m so lucky that you’re mine and I can’t wait to grow old with you.” 

The two women were definitely crying at this point, and they didn’t even care. The taller one mouthed “I love you”, and then got ready to speak her own vows.

“Dear Sara, I promise to give you the best of myself, and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to respect you as your own person, and to realise that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own. I promise to share with you my time and attention, and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship. I promise to keep myself open to you. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes as we both change in order to keep our relationship thriving. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give. I will cherish you and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”

  
Ava and Sara kept looking at each other, still holding hands as they both cried. 

Tommy couldn’t help but wipe a small tear from the corner of his eye, before he gestured at Laurel. She walked up to the two women, giving the rings and hugging them both tightly.

“Let these rings represent your eternal love and the promises you have made here today. Let them be a symbol of your unbreakable bond and this new beginning of your life together with no end in sight.” The man looked at Sara and nodded. “Sara, take the ring and place it on Ava’s finger and repeat after me.” He paused and winked at the couple. “With this ring, I promise to love and cherish you to the end of my days.” He said.

The smaller blonde repeated the sentence as she slid the ring around her future wife’s finger. Tommy turned to Ava. “Ava, take the ring and place it on Sara’s finger and repeat after me.” He said, smiling. Ava did the same and put the ring around Sara’s finger too. 

“I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss each other now.” 

The women softly smiled before leaning in, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. Sara put her arms around the taller blonde, whilst the latter held onto her waist. Everyone in the room smiled and clapped as they kept kissing. They pulled away, both still crying but smiling nonetheless. “I love you so much.” Ava basically sobbed. Sara kept pressing kisses to her lips, before hugging her now wife tightly.

“I love you too.”

-

Ava and Sara entered the beautifully decorated ballroom of the castle. There were quite a few tables, with flowers and candles on them. The walls were lit by a lot of fairy lights. It looked like it came out of a romantic movie. Everyone clapped and whistled when the newlyweds entered. 

Sara bowed and a huge smile appeared on her face. She quickly kissed her wife’s cheek and pulled her over to the dance floor. With her hands around Ava’s neck, and Ava’s around Sara’s waist, the two started slow dancing. Their foreheads were pressed against each other. Everyone looked at the couple in awe. 

After a few minutes, people started joining in. 

“I can’t believe you’re my wife now.” The smaller blonde grinned, her crystal blues meeting grey-ish blue ones. “I know, I can’t believe you’re my wife also.” Ava chuckled, tightening her grip around the woman’s waist. They continued shuffling like that until someone walked up to them.

Laurel smiled at her own sister. “Can I have this dance?” She grinned. Sara shook her head and laughed. “Yes, you can.” She said. She kissed Ava on her lips. “I’ll be back soon, my love.” She murmured and then walked away with her sister. 

“So, how does it feel, being a married woman?”

Sara twirled Laurel around. “I don’t know. It feels amazing, I guess. I just can’t believe she’s my wife now.” She chuckled as she looked back at Ava, who was dancing with her mom. Her sister nudged her. “You’re so whipped for her, gross!” She said with a big smile on her face. “I know.” Th smaller one sighed happily.

After a few minutes of silence, Laurel twirled her little sister around instead. “Anyways, I actually have some news that I wanted to tell you.” She said. Sara looked at her in curiosity, raising an eyebrow at her. The taller woman sighed. “You’re the first one to know. Not even Tommy knows, so you better keep this a secret, okay?” Laurel said with a stern tone in her voice. She looked so serious, it actually worried Sara a little. “Yes, of course. I’m pretty decent at keeping secrets.” 

“Okay. I’m pregnant.” 

Sara’s mouth fell open. “What?!” She exclaimed. “You’re-” She continued, but Laurel quickly put her hand over her face. “Shut up, Sara. Yes, I am. Only a few weeks though, so it’s pretty early.” Her sister said. “Aww, I’m going to be an aunt! Oh, Laurel. I’m so, so happy for you.” The small blonde whispered and then gently hugged her sister.

  
“You’re going to be the best aunt, Sara. And Ava too.”

\- 

“What was that about?” Ava asked her when she got back, joining her wife at the table. “What?” Sara shrugged. All it took for her to break was the taller woman glancing at her. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you when we get back home, okay?” She said, pressing kisses everywhere on Ava’s face. The latter blushed but closed her eyes, getting lost in the moment. Sara pressed a kiss to her nose, and then moved away. 

“More of that later, babe. I have to dance with my mom now.” 

“You are such a tease.” Ava sighed and shook her head. She grabbed her wife’s hand and gently pulled her back, kissing her on the lips one more time. “Hmm, you know it.” Sara grinned as she got back on the dance floor. 

\- 

After a long, eventful but amazing day, the two finally landed in their own bed, in their apartment. 

“Gosh, I can’t believe today actually happened. It’s actually real.” Ava sighed in relief. Sara smiled and started pressing small kisses on her neck and shoulder, making her groan lightly.

The taller one stopped her in her tracks and pulled her so she was laying with her head on her chest. “What was going on with Laurel earlier? You two seemed awfully excited about something.” She asked curiously. Sara sighed. “She was just happy that we’re finally married.” She said, but with a quick look from Ava, she did tell the truth.

“Okay, fine. It was something else. But you have to promise you won’t tell anyone else.” 

“I promise!” 

Sara laid back down and started smiling. “Laurel’s pregnant.” She finally explained. Ava basically jumped up from the bed. “Oh my gosh, really? We’re going to be aunties, Sara!” She shouted excitedly. “Ssh, babe. No one else has to hear.” Sara grimaced. “But yes. She’s only 7 weeks along so it’s pretty early.”

“That’s so exciting.” Ava whispered quietly. She pressed a kiss to Sara’s forehead and then focused her attention on something else. It was quiet for a while. The smaller blonde almost thought her wife was sleeping, until she noticed her eyes were still open.

“Is there something on your mind?” She asked. The taller one shrugged quietly, fidgeting with her hands. Sara moved closer and made her look at her. “I’m your wife now, you have to tell me these things.” She said with a small smile. 

Ava just sighed. “I think I want to have kids. Not right now, but you know.. Someday.” She visibly swallowed and then looked back down. She was afraid of what her wife might think. “Aw, babe. You don’t have to be nervous about this. Besides, I would like to start a family with you someday.” Sara kissed her cheek before looking at her. The other blonde’s eyes widened in shock. “Really?” She exclaimed, surprised.

“Yeah. I just love the thought of a mini you running around. It’d be so cute.” Sara cooed softly, making Ava smile widely. “Or a mini Sara. I’d love that.” She said, sighing happily. 

“We definitely need to talk about this more.. But not now.”

“Oh?”

Sara basically smirked as she got back on top. She started leaving a trail of kisses from Ava’s face to the bare skin on her shoulders and chest. She groaned at the sensation.

“We have more important things to do right now.”

  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought of this one in the comments 🥰 Only the epilogue left...
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


	10. my everything and beyond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it. I'm sorry I took this long to write this, probably because I didn't want it to end. But everything ends eventually.. So.. Here's the final part of this fic.
> 
> -

**2 years later**

Sara sighed as she walked into the building. She went to the counter and someone from the hospital staff looked curiously at her. “What can I help you with?” The man asked. “I’m here for my wife, Ava Lance. She arrived here early this morning.” She replied. The man typed something on his computer. “She’s in room 312. You just have to go with the elevator to the third floor.” He smiled. Sara nodded, thanked him and then moved away, searching for the elevator.

“Mrs. Lance, it’s nice to see you again.” A nurse said. Sara smiled as she recognized that voice. It was Nurse Carlisle, she was the one of the few nurses that took care of her when she had overdosed and landed in the hospital more than two years ago. 

“Nurse Carlisle, nice to see you too!” She smiled. She pressed on the button of the elevator a few times. The woman got closer to her. “You can call me Lindsay. How are you doing?” She asked. Sara chuckled lightly. “It’s going well. I’m here for my wife, actually.” She replied with a kind smile. Then the doors opened and she quickly entered. The nurse didn’t say anything back, she just waved instead with a small smile on her face. The smaller blonde nodded and pressed on the button for the third floor.

Sara fidgeted nervously with her hands until she arrived on the third floor. She found the room, knocked on the door and then went in.

A wide grin appeared on her face when she saw her wife. She had no make-up on, her hair was in a messy bun and she was bouncing up and down on a labor ball. Sara still thought she looked as beautiful as ever. “Sara, thank god, you’re finally here.” Ava groaned loudly, still bouncing up and down as her wife approached. The smaller woman just pulled her into a gentle hug. “I'm sorry. I got held up at the police station. How are you feeling?” She said as she kissed her forehead.

“Do you even have to ask? I feel horrible.” Ava replied. She tensed up when she felt the pain again. She did her best to not let it show, but of course, Sara could tell anyway. She rubbed Ava’s shoulders, down to her arms and tried to distract her by pressing kisses everywhere. When the cramps faded away, the taller one sighed from relief. 

Sara smiled sadly at her. She crouched down and rubbed over Ava’s big baby bump. 

“You can do this, Ava. I believe in you and I’m already so proud of you.”

-

“I can’t do this, I can’t. It hurts.” Ava cried out in pain, tears welling up in her eyes. Sara pressed a kiss in her hair and gripped her hand tighter. “I promise, you can do this, Ava Sharpe. You went through so much to get here. You’re almost there, baby, just keep going.” She calmly said. A smile appeared on her face when her wife sighed and started pushing again.

“I swear, if we ever have another kid, you’ll be the one pregnant next time!” The tall blonde exclaimed after another contraction hit. Sara couldn’t help but chuckle. She pressed a kiss to her wife’s knuckles and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. 

A few pushes later, a loud piercing cry filled the room. The smaller woman let out a cry as the baby got placed on her Ava’s chest. Their beautiful daughter. She leaned down and kissed the baby’s tiny forehead, and then Ava’s cheek. “You did it babe, I’m so proud of you.” 

The taller blonde couldn’t help but burst out in tears at the sound of their baby crying. She reached out and gently caressed their daughter’s face. The doctors in the room quickly picked the child up from the woman’s chest and started weighing her. Ava let out a moan as she felt the contractions slowly starting up again.

Sara just gripped her hand tighter and continued to whisper motivating words in her ear.

Three minutes later, after only a few pushes, their second daughter got brought into the world.

-

“Sssh, babies. You have to be quiet. Your mommy is sleeping.” The smaller one softly whispered, pressing kisses on both the babies’ cheeks. She was sitting down in a chair, holding her two daughters. She smiled as they seemed to listen to her. The left one yawned, and then her sister followed. 

“You two are too cute.” She cooed. Sara gently laid them down in their hospital cots, moving slowly as to not wake them up again. She let out a relieved sigh when they didn’t. She sat back in the chair, focusing her eyes back on her sleeping wife. Automatically, she started smiling at the sight of the other blonde. She was asleep, her mouth half open and her long, blonde hair tousled. It was the cutest thing she’d ever seen.

The peace and quiet did not last long, though. The door of the room opened with a loud squeak, startling basically everyone. Laurel and Tommy stepped inside with bright smiles, but their faces fell when the babies started crying again, and the woman in the bed groaned.

“Sorry, sorry! We tried to be quiet.” Sara’s sister apologized. She walked slowly over to the right side of the bed, hugging Sara and gently holding Ava’s hand. Laurel squealed when she saw the two newborns. “Look at them! They’re so cute! Sara, they definitely have your eyes and chin.” She cooed.

Sara laughed, and gently picked up one of them, holding her out to Laurel.

“Laurel, meet Quinn Jade Lance.” She gestured to the baby her sister was holding, and then looked down at the other. “And her twin sister, Rory Violet Lance.” Sara picked up Rory and handed her over to Ava, who was now sitting up.

The babies fell asleep again after only a few seconds.

The two sisters smiled at each other, before Sara realized something. “Wait, where is-” She started to say, but got cut off by the door opening once more. A brown-haired boy sprinted into the room. “Mommy! Daddy! I found you!” He exclaimed happily, holding on to Laurel’s leg. 

“Leo James Merlyn, what have we told you about running off?” Tommy said as he crouched down, looking sternly at his son. “I’m sorry.” Leo replied, jutting out his lower lip and pouting. The man shook his head and picked him up, sitting him down in one of the chairs.

Sara just grinned at this exchange. “He gets that from his mom.” She chuckled, her dimples showing. “Hey!” Laurel replied, sounding slightly mad, but she was still smiling anyway. She caressed Quinn’s cheek softly, cooing at the sleeping baby.

“You have two beautiful daughters. Congratulations, guys. I'm so happy for you.” Laurel wiped away some tears with one hand, putting the baby back in the cot. The smallest woman in the room just grinned and hugged her sister gently. “Thanks, Laurel.” She said, pulling away after a few seconds. She looked down at her sister’s small baby bump.

“How are you doing, anyway?”

Laurel rubbed her stomach. “It’s been okay. The little one has been making me nauseous a lot, definitely a lot more than my pregnancy with Leo.” She sighed. “Thankfully I have an amazing husband who basically gives me everything I need.” She grinned, looking over at Tommy who nodded. 

“I can’t wait to be an aunt again to this one.” Ava quietly piped up from the bed. Sara sat back down and pressed a kiss to her wife’s forehead, who smiled tiredly in return.

Laurel grinned when Ava started yawning. “Well, it looks like we have to get going.” She said, gesturing to Tommy and her son. They all got up. “No, you guys don’t have to leave right now!” Ava protested, but it didn’t look like they would change their minds.

“You have to rest, Ava.” Tommy replied, nudging his son lightly. “Go say goodbye to your aunties, okay.” Sara laughed as the almost two year-old ran into her arms. “Goodbye, Leo.” She whispered into his ear. She lifted him up so Ava wouldn’t have to move. Leo pressed a light kiss on her cheek. “Bye, Ava.” He said, giggling before joining his parents once again. “You two better get some rest now, you must be tired.” Laurel said, making a gesture and looking at the two women sternly. With that, the small family left.

Ava sighed loudly before smiling at the baby in her arms. “I’m so tired.” She said, looking over at Sara. She was gazing at her with the softest look she’d ever seen. “What?” The taller blonde asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nothing, I’m just.. so happy, right now.” Sara whispered, pressing a kiss to her wife’s hand.

“I just never thought I’d get to have this. Someone who loves me like you do, or even a family. Especially after what happened three years ago.” 

The tall one looked at her, a sad smile on her face. She quietly handed Rory, who was still sleeping, back to her wife. Sara placed her back in the little hospital cot and rejoined Ava’s side. It was silent for a few seconds.

“Honey, you deserve so much happiness. I’m so lucky to have you, and your daughters are too.” Ava whispered back. The smaller woman shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. Even after all the wrong things I did, after what I put you through, you still came back to me. I’m so lucky that you gave me that second chance. Even if I probably didn’t deserve it.” She replied, smiling sadly. Her wife placed her hands on her cheeks.

“Listen to me, Sara Lance. You are one of the strongest people I’ve ever got to meet. You are extraordinary, and you deserve to be happy too. Preferably with me, of course. And our daughters.” 

Sara let out a loud, happy laugh. “I love you so much, Ava.” She said softly, leaning in and kissing her chastely. The two women practically beamed, before the taller one yawned again.

“Okay, now we have to listen to what Laurel said, and get some rest.”

-

After five days they finally were allowed to leave the hospital. 

“Look, we’re here.” 

Sara parked the car, turned it off and quickly opened the door. She held her hands out towards Ava, who smiled gratefully in return. “Thanks, my love.” She chuckled and grabbed her hand. Sara opened the front door and walked into the house, Ava next to her with a steady arm around her waist. 

The smaller one sat her gently down onto the couch and pressed a kiss in her hair. “You go rest, I’ll get Quinn and Rory. Don’t move, babe.” She said before dashing back outside. Ava couldn’t help but smile at her wife’s antics. 

After only a few minutes, the smaller blonde came back in with the two car chairs. “Do you need something, baby? Are you comfortable like that? Wait, your coat is still on, I should probably take that off for you.” Sara rambled, putting down the chairs and walking over to the couch. She gently helped Ava, taking her coat off and putting it on the coat rack in the hallway.

The second Sara came back in the living room, she started blabbering again, almost tripping over one of the car seats. She crouched down and got the babies out of it, putting them into the crib next to the couch. 

“Are you sure you don’t want anything? A drink, maybe? You must be thirsty. Oh, and also food, of course. I can cook or- maybe it’s better if I order take-out. What do you feel like eating? Chinese or, or maybe just McDonalds? I’ll get you anything you need.” 

Ava just started laughing. “Babe, take a breath and sit down next to me for a second.” She said, still grinning. “Are you sure?” Sara questioned, looking at her with an uncertain look and her hands fidgeting. The taller one just patted down on the couch. Sara sighed, sat down next to her and kept her eyes on her lap. 

“Babe, look at me.”

She looked up, her crystal blues meeting Ava’s grey-ish ones. 

“I just need you to calm down for me, okay? Just breathe in and out deeply.” The tall one said, running her hand down her wife’s arm in an attempt to soothe her. Sara did what she got asked to do and immediately felt a little more at ease. “I’m sorry for being so crazy, I don’t know what got into me.” She mumbled and moved to stand up again. A hand on her arm kept her from doing so.

“Tell me. I know there’s something wrong.” 

Sara sighed and shook her head. “It’s stupid.” She said. “No. If it’s bothering you, it’s definitely not stupid.” Ava replied softly, pouting at her. “I just, I want to be the best wife and mom. I want to make sure you’re okay, and the babies too. I’m just scared to mess it all up again like I did once before. I- I don’t want to lose you.” She answered with a sad smile and watery eyes.

Ava pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh, baby. You’re already the best wife and mother I could’ve asked for. If there’s something I need or the babies’ need, I’ll ask you. And oh, you will mess up. But so will I.” She paused, grabbing her wife’s hand. “We’ll make many mistakes, especially now that we’re parents. But it’s okay, honey, because we’re going to learn from them and be even better versions of ourselves. And, by the way, I love you too much. So, you’re not getting rid of me that easily, you goober.” She smiled, holding Sara’s hand up to her mouth and pressing a kiss on the back of it.

“Gosh, I love you.” 

That was all Sara said before they gravitated to one another, their lips meeting in a soft kiss.

“I love you too, babe.”

-

The couple had just gone down to sleep, but it didn’t last very long. It was currently 3 in the morning, and both of their daughters started wailing at the same time. 

Ava groaned loudly, still half asleep. “It’s okay, I’ll get it. You get some more rest, okay?” Sara whispered, getting out of the bed and sprinted down the hallway to soothe their daughters.

The taller blonde smiled and basically burrowed her face in the pillow, falling in a deep sleep once more. 

A few hours later, she woke up again, startled by the fact there was no one laying next to her. She stood up and made her way to the nursery. 

What she saw when she opened the door, made her heart melt instantly. Sara was holding Rory, sitting in the rocking chair. But they both seemed to be sleeping. A children's book, titled "The Waverider", was laying facedown on the floor. 

The tall blonde fondly smiled, gently pried the sleeping newborn out of her arms and put her back in the cot. Then, she put the book back on the shelf. When she was done, she walked back to Sara, pressing soft kisses all over her face in an attempt to wake her up. It didn’t work.

“Sara, honey, wake up. You can’t sleep like this or you’ll be sore tomorrow.” 

The woman in the chair opened her eyes slowly, clearly a little startled when she noticed Ava. “Why aren’t you in bed?” She sleepily asked, wiping her eyes with her hand. “Because it’s almost six in the morning and you were sleeping in that chair.” Ava grinned. “I’m sorry. I guess I was just that tired.” Sara just groaned.

“It’s okay. You sleeping with Rory in your arms might’ve made me fall in love with you even more. It was so cute.” The tall one cooed. Sara just shook her head and pouted.

“Shut up!”

Ava chuckles lightly, but then her face got serious again.

“Like I told you earlier, the girls are lucky to have you as their mom, Sara. I’ve never seen someone care and love so much and that’s what I love so much about you. Please, don’t ever say bad things about yourself again. You are perfect just the way you are.”

Sara smiled softly, her eyes watering once again.

“Maybe you’re right. But you’re also the best mom they could’ve asked for. I’m lucky you chose me to spend the rest of your life with, sweetheart.” She replied. Her arms slipped around Ava’s waist, pulling so their bodies were touching.

“Hmmm, I really can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Maybe adopt some pets, have another baby. And also to watch Quinn and Rory grow up into lovely women. But I don’t want to think about that yet because they’re still my babies. Our babies.” The tall one grinned before hugging her wife back.

“I can’t wait either. Something in me tells me it’s going to be a whole new adventure. And you’re right, sometimes it might suck and sometimes we might make mistakes. But we’ll get better at it along the way. And I can’t wait to figure everything out with you.”

The two women were both sobbing at this point, still holding onto one another.

“I love you, Ava Lance.”

“I love you, Sara Lance. And I’m so damn _proud_ of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading this fic and supporting me, with all of your lovely reactions on each chapter. I hope this ending was what you guys wanted! 
> 
> \- Miranda  
> (@jesmacalians on Twitter)


End file.
